Moonlight: A New Phase
by The Neverending Meep
Summary: Slightly anticipated sequel to Moonlight. It's been four months since Fee's left hospital, and her new lease on life is tested almost immediately when trouble brews on the horizon, as sometimes even the bad guys can learn new tricks... Guest starring Misha Collins. xD
1. A Stranger In The Night

**A Stranger In The Night**

Deep in the Sinnoh countryside, a lone fortress stood amidst the foggy moors. High, imposing spires towered above each corner like a menacing cyclops, with many a guard patrolling the fortified walls between them. The 'cyclops' effect was only doubled, should a guard pass by the single window on a spire and shine his torch out; it gave the cyclops a stare that could pierce any darkness.

Why all this security and solitude, you ask?

The answer's simple: If you want something kept secret, you must first go somewhere secret, and hold a secret meeting, so that said secret could be discussed. Secretly, of course.

Surrounded by seemingly endless nothing, and protected by a plethora of guards, those wishing to share said secret should feel sufficiently secure, by even the most secretive of secret keepers' standards...

But they were wrong.

As all secret keepers should know, there will always be an unwanted visitor, wanting to know the secret. And that visitor was stealthily approaching the castle!

"Agent 217 responding" The shadowy figure muttered to a communication device implanted into his ear, "I'm ready to breach the south wall"

"OK 217" a voice replied, "The place is literally riddled with guards and traps, and you have had four months of preparation for this mission. I don't think I need to tell you to be careful. Good luck"

"Very well" The agent known as '217' responded, "Oh, and I'm going by a new codename. From now on, call me ShadowKnight, OK?"

"Wha? ShadowKnight? Why?" The device replied, "Why could you not just use your usual codename, N-"

"Sshh!" he hissed, at the risk of audibility, "A good operative never exposes his identity, Eyes!"

"Hang on, since when am I 'Eyes'?" his cohort countered, sounding somewhat disdained, "This line's perfectly secure, N- ShadowKnight..."

"You don't know that" ShadowKnight sighed exasperatedly, "No line can ever be truly secure, and that is why I have called you 'Eyes', instead of-"

"OK, I get it!" Eyes exclaimed, "Anyway, it is time for you to breach the wall. Those Poffins I gave you should offer great assistance"

"OK, gotcha" ShadowKnight whispered, removing said Poffin from one of many storage compartments hidden in his stealth suit, "Over and out"

Holding the unassuming little Poffin carefully, he approached one of the many windows that were ironically lining the castle wall, and waited for a guard to come close. His moment came, and he wasted no time in throwing the Poffin inside.

"Hunh? What the?" the guard queried, warily raising a poke ball at the poffin, which bounced innocently in front of him.

But then:

"Fsssshh!"

A soft explosion had the Poffin release a cloud of violet dust, which had the effect of lulling the guard into a heavy slumber!

"Heh. Sweet dreams" ShadowKnight chuckled softly, climbing through the open window with a nimble efficiency.

"Sounds like you're in" Eyes surmised, "Excellent work. Did you like my Poffin?"

"Yeah, effective stuff" ShadowKnight replied, dragging the comatose guard by his shoulders and 'depositing' him in a storage closet, "How'd you make it so strong?"

"Aha, it is my own special concoction!" Eyes chuckled proudly, "The perfect combination of Rabuta Berries and Dream Mist, I have mixed!"

"Niice" ShadowKnight humoured him, "Seems as though the coast is clear... should I be suspicious?"

"On the contrary" Eyes advised, "While there are plenty of guards, they are posted very inefficiently. In short, they do not appear, how would you say... smart?"

"Heh, that's good news for me" ShadowKnight remarked, "Shouldn't have too much trouble outwitting them, then"

"Indeed" Eyes concurred, "Intel states that your target room is on the second floor. There's an adjacent room from which you can surveil them"

"Good, good..." ShadowKnight mused, creeping towards the end of the hallway and spying some ascending stairs, "Damn! Guards!" he muttered, ducking from sight after noticing the fortifications in front of said stairs.

"How many?" Eyes queried, noting his exasperation.

"Dozens" ShadowKnight muttered, "I'm gonna need a distraction..."

"Ahh, how fortuitous!" Eyes exclaimed, strangely happy, "I believe it is about time you gave your Dowsing Machine a whirl!"

"Umm... OK?" ShadowKnight queried, obliging and removing the Dowsing Machine from a small compartment on the leg of his stealth suit, "How's this gonna help?"

"I have modified it!" Eyes explained, "Now it can remotely hack into and control electrical devices!"

"Ohh, that's pretty cool" ShadowKnight remarked, powering up the device, "Let's see..."

The Dowsing Machine's antennae wiggled about cheerfully, and after a few more moments:

"Heh, this oughta 'dowse' their spirits" ShadowKnight chuckled, before pushing a final button on the Dowsing Machine. As he did so, the sprinklers activated in the next room!

"Agh, sprinklers?!" one guard yelped in surprise.

"Waah, I hate water!" a second cried, scrambling about the room in a panic.

It took a laughably short time for the soaked guards to evacuate the room via all possible exits, and grant ShadowKnight access to those elusive stairs.

"Haha, that worked almost too well" he laughed, softly sneaking up the stairs, "Anything I should know about the second floor?"

"Oh, most definitely" Eyes announced, "No guards, but they have tripwires instead. You can't shut them off, as the controls are in the target room. However, your Go-Goggles should make short work of navigating them!"

"Gotcha" ShadowKnight acknowledged him, lowering the Go-Goggles over his eyes to reveal the location of the laser tripwires, "Man I love your modifications, Eyes"

"No need to thank me" Eyes replied humbly as ShadowKnight navigated the intricate maze of tripwires with relative ease, "For I am only doing my job. It is you who is doing the hard work!"

"Haha, OK then" ShadowKnight laughed appreciatively, "Tell ya what. When this is all over, how 'bout I buy you a drink? I know this great bar back home in Goldenrod..."

"Sounds like a fine idea!" Eyes exclaimed, "Anyway, you should be in the clear once you are past that hallway!"

"Sweet..." ShadowKnight muttered, weaving in between one last tangle of tripwires and disappearing into the small side room, "OK, I'm next door. This seems a little... easy, don't you think?"

"Perhaps..." Eyes mused, "But then again, they are not the most sophisticated of agents. Perhaps we're simply too smart for them?"

"Ohh, let's not tempt fate now, Eyes" ShadowKnight replied level-headedly.

"Haha, touché" Eyes agreed, "Ah well. Now is the time to deploy the SpyDer!

"Affirmative" ShadowKnight replied, removing a small, green and black spherical device from yet another pocket and placing it gently on the ground. After activating it with his Dowsing Machine, the device sprouted black and yellow legs, and scuttled off!

"OK..." ShadowKnight mused, controlling the 'SpyDer' via the Dowsing Machine, which now sported an audio/video feed. SpyDer ascended the wall with ease, and crawled out of the open window, navigating the ledge to the next room.

"So, what's the big secret..." he queried, finding a space in which SpinaCam could permeate the adjacent room and surveil it.

"Steady now..." Eyes instructed, watching the feed from afar as the SpyDer shook whilst stealthily traversing the walls in the next room, the find a secure hiding spot.

"Calm down..." ShadowKnight reassured his partner, stabilising the SpyDer with a gentle tweak of a dial, "We're fine, don't worry..."

And the pair stopped bickering so that the SpyDer's feed could become their eyes and ears for the time being.

"And finally, to our main point..." the figure nearest the screen spoke. Facing away from the camera and perchaed like a hungry vulture in the tall, steep chair, the tall figure looked as though _he_ was the one in charge; he and no one else.

"You all understand why we are here" the man continued, imperiously stroking the Persian that stood guard by his side, "Because we have all suffered the same misfortunes. Against all odds..."

A murmur of agreement echoed through the other four people in the room, all of whom were male.

"Foolproof plans" the dark man in the tallest chair continued, "That's what they were. Foolproof. We had the ability, the support, and the finances, yet still we failed every time. And why is that?"

He paused, and seemed to be waiting patiently for an answer from his 'guests'. Eventually, one of them bucked up the courage.

"Meddling kids?" A sullen looking redheaded man piped up. Garbed mostly in black and red, with red hair that spiked at the bottom, his only other shows of emotion would be the occasional loathing stare towards the man opposite him; one of similar age, but with black hair, a more muscular build, and a blue bandanna atop his head. The second man would respond by staring sharply back, indicating a fierce rivalry.

However, neither would take any further action. Perhaps they were both too intimidated between the man who sat between them...

"Correct" that man replied calmly, "It seems that some incredibly skilled child somehow stumbles across our plans and ruins them. Every time..."

"Sometimes it's more than one..." The blue haired male sitting next to the one with the bandanna spoke. Although he looked slightly younger than the others, the look in his eyes was one that could've frozen the depths of hell.

He looked by far the most ruthless of them all.

"Regardless" their leader remarked, waving that concern away almost casually, "My point is this. Our plans failed because we were too disorganised. We employed idiots to form our hierarchical pyramids, so to speak, and placed ourselves on top. With how shabby the organisation was, it was inevitable that they would come crashing down..."

"Always at the last moment, too..." An older man added. With wispy faint blonde hair, and a long, thin moustache, dressed in colourful robes that even sported a cape and a crimson tinted eye patch, he looked vastly out of place among the four noticeably younger males, none of whom looked older than forty.

"That is because that is when the pressure is at its greatest" the dark figure announced, stroking his Persian, "Now, before I move onto why I have summoned you all here, I wish to know some things..."

Picking up a glass of what could be red wine, and taking a short drink from it, he then pointed to the bandanna-clad figure on his right.

"Archie" he spoke gently, placing his glass down again, "You and Maxie (with a point to the redheaded man opposite) have made no efforts to hide your disdain for each other"

"That is because he is _always_ disrupting my plans!" the one known as Archie spat, shaking a furious fist at his fiery-haired counterpart.

"Hah, you're one to talk!" Maxie roared in dispute, "Every time I do something', you're there! Like a frickin' shadow!"

"Why, you-!" Archie started

"Quiet" the dark man spoke, quelling them both instantly with one softly uttered word. Once serenity had been restored, he continued.

"Yet you both insist on operating in the same areas, despite this obvious hatred?"

"That is because..." Archie began

"...We're both after the same thing, just in opposite ways" Maxie finished, evidently knowing what Archie was about to say.

"You can finish each other's sentences, yet you can't co-operate?" The blue-haired man scoffed, "How pathetic..."

"A fair point, Cyrus" the dark man remarked, "Now, you have probably the most ambition here. Trying to create and rule your own world... sounds rather similar to the combined plans of Maxie and Archie, does it not?"

The blue-haired Cyrus paused and thought for a moment, before curtly nodding in agreement, "...yes"

"Yet you chose to attempt this difficult take by yourself, discarding everyone who helped you get there once it appeared to be close to fruition" the dark figure surmised, "That was foolish and reckless"

Cyrus hung his head, knowing that those words were simply too true to dispute, and the dark figure turned his attention to the older man next to Maxie.

"Ghetsis" he spoke, "You had the support and the ability to succeed, and you even fabricated a dummy who went by the name of N to serve as a more approachable face. Commendable"

"Thank you, sir" Ghetsis replied, smiling smugly.

"But your ultimate goal..." the dark figure continued, sipping more wine, "That was just terrible. Forcing people to release their pokemon?"

The other three shook their heads disappointedly at Ghetsis, whose smile vanished.

"I... I have now learned... that that is not the way..." he stammered nervously, "Nor was manipulating N, for that matter..."

"Indeed" the dark figure concurred, "Your 'puppet' began to question, and hence your plan fell apart"

"But what about the organisation of Team Plasma?!" Ghetsis spluttered, "My Seven Sages were no mere house of cards, to be blown over by a light breeze!"

"Yet you are the only one here..." Cyrus mocked, "If you truly considered them to be your equals, they'd all be here too"

"Shut up, you insolent whelp!" Ghetsis raged, "Insulting your elders like that... you know nothing!"

"But he is right" the dark figure announced, placing his fingertips together, "While you gave them status, that is all you did. You changed them from mindless idiots into glorified idiots, and hence your 'house of cards' still collapsed. You were blinded by your own ambition..."

Ghetsis raised a finger to object angrily, but after a bit of thought, he eventually realised there was no objection to be made. He withdrew his finger, and reluctantly conceded defeat.

"Very good" the dark figure remarked, "So we are all agreed?"

"...yes..." the four recited in near unison.

"Auspicious" he continued, stroking his Persian once again, "Now the proposition I suggest to your all is this. The shabby 'pyramid' system that we have tried in the past has been proved to fail time and time again. However, if we strengthen each corner" he illustrated with hand gestures on the table, "The structure becomes all that much stronger. Do you get what I am saying?"

There was a short silence at the table, punctuated only by the purring of his Persian.

"Surely you aren't suggesting..." Archie hesitated, eventually breaking the silence, "That we work _together?!_"

"That is exactly what I am suggesting" the dark figure concluded, "Where one lacks, another excels. Combine these aspects, and we shall eliminate our weaknesses to create something incredible!"

"I..." Maxie eventually stuttered, "I-I agree. Teamwork is the only way we could ever win!"

"That's correct" the dark figure announced, "We will no longer settle for employing the standard idiot, and expect them to fend off an opposing trainer with useless pokémon, either! We will take only the best, and I, Giovanni, shall stand at the-"

"Hang on..." Ghetsis interrupted, "How do you plan to recruit skilled trainers? We can't exactly advertise this..."

"Heh heh..." the one known as Giovanni laughed softly, "Who said we were recruiting?"

"But you just said-" Ghetsis spluttered, confused.

"Whenever word of a criminal organisation breaks out..." Cyrus mused, "The skilled trainers come to us..."

"!?"

"That's right..." Giovanni announced, "We will await their arrival, kidnap them, and brainwash them. Then they will fight _for _us, not _against_ us!"

"Hah! Brilliant!" Ghetsis applauded, "We can't possibly fail now! We'll eventually have more on our side than the opposition can possibly fend off!"

"Simply genius!" Archie exclaimed, "Why could we never think of that?!"

"Because we are not he" Cyrus explained, "And that is why he is in charge of this operation. Problem is... where do we start?"

"Ohh, I know the perfect place..." Giovanni answered threateningly.

With a gentle swivel, he turned his chair around, only to stare directly at the SpyDer's screen!"

"Hunh?!" Eyes gasped in shock, hearing Giovanni's deep, evil laughter ring in his ears, "H-how?!"

"I... I don't know" ShadowKnight admitted, at a loss.

"Nyx! Get out! Now!" Eyes cried desperately, wracked with concern for his now endangered partner.

But as the red lights flashed in the background, both knew it was already too late...

"Oh no!" Eyes gasped, "Nyx!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Why hello there. :3**

**How's this for a prologue? Interested in hearing some feedback. ;)**


	2. Twists And Turns

**Twists and Turns**

Hey there. It's been a while, huh?

About four months, to be precise. Quite a lot's happened since we last spoke. The power was restored at the power plant about two weeks later, and the truck driver responsible was convicted in one of the shortest trials in Kanto's history. It didn't take long for a jury to conclude that driving a heavy truck, in the rain, whilst intoxicated, was a bad idea.

Copper finally got her pokedex from a recovered Professor Elm. Turns out he had a similar thing to Fee. Go figure. His case was a lot milder, though.

Since then, Copper's been collecting badges. Last I heard, she had... four?

I heard Morty's face was quite a picture, when his own niece beat him. It was like someone had slapped him with a wet Magikarp, according to a jubilant Copper over the phone. Please excuse the pun, but she used the perfect word to describe him; mortified.

Hailey, on the other hand, has followed in her father's footsteps, and she's just recently started training to be a nurse at Goldenrod hospital, with the intentions of travelling once she's qualified. Why only recently, you ask?

They had to find her first. Her dad wasn't too impressed about having to pry her from some dragon trainer named... Vincent?

As for Fee and I...

Well, she left hospital after just three days, stunning all bar one of the doctors with her 'miracle' recovery. Ned evolved into a Krokorok about two months back, and we finally got through a full moon without anything weird happening. Well, unless you count a shooting star as weird?

Fee's belated birthday celebrations were... eventful, shall we say. I'm not the most proficient of chefs, and I attempted to bake her a cake. Whilst I didn't set anything on fire, much to my amazement, the cake on the other hand, was horrible. I thought it tasted like wallpaper paste...

Fee still insisted that she liked it, though, and managed to somehow finish an entire slice before Ned stole the rest of it. Bless her... she'll do anything to try and make me happy, even in the face of obvious failure...

Oh, and she found a way to tame my hair; by shaving it all off.

Though I didn't really approve of having painfully short hair, it made her happy in the knowledge that she'd 'won'. So I put up with it, because a happy Fee is what I live for.

Since her 'rebirth', she quite literally has been full of life, and wanting to live it to its fullest.

I bet you're now imagining some utopian scene, like me feeding her grapes whilst we're both lazing happily at the beach. Luna and Argus bounding about playfully, and Ned entertaining himself by digging holes in the sand, then awaiting some unsuspecting passerby to trip into them...

The whole 'Happily ever after' scenario...

Seems fitting, huh?

**Wrong.**

"B-but please, My Smythe..." Fee pleaded to her landlord, "You... you can't take my house away!"

"I'm sorry, Felicity..." Mr. Smythe responded, the genuine sympathy shining behind his glasses, "You've really been a valued tenant for the past three years, but just recently..."

That's right. Life happened. Remember the huge bill that Fee's life support run up?

Well, we couldn't _not_ pay it back now, could we? For the first two months or so, we were just about coping. Fee had to work overtime at the Day-Care, and I spent most of my waking hours battling passing trainers to gain some money. That's when Ned evolved, for reference. It was a struggle, but it at least keep the food on the table, and the bills paid.

That was when things were _bad_. It didn't take long for them to get worse.

_Much_ worse.

A huge recession hit the region, which made money scarce for those who _did_ have access to it, forget Fee and I, who were already having trouble keeping our heads above the rising flood that was debt.

Less money meant less spending of money, and, of course, less people visiting the Day-Care to have their pokémon raised. Because of this, Arthur and Edith couldn't afford to keep employing Fee...

That was a tough day for her. I think she cried for about three hours, while all I could do was sit there and be useless.

I was still battling the occasional trainer, but word had spread about 'That really strong trainer guy with the Umbreon', and thus battles were few and far between. I'm personally surprised it took Mr Smythe this long, to be honest. We've been behind in rent for five weeks, now...

"I really wish there was something I could do to help, Felicity..." Mr Smythe mumbled, almost refraining from speaking, due to being somewhat upset himself, "But I need to feed my family, too..."

"No, no no, don't you be... s-sorry" Fee sniffed, forcing back tears in the pouring rain, "I... I understand"

Mr Smythe looked up at the bucketing sky, and in a gesture that I could only perceive as undeserved guilt, he sighed "... I can't evict you tonight. Not in this weather..."

Fee looked up hopefully at this notion, and Mr Smythe seemed to have anticipated this.

"... I can trust you to drop the keys around tomorrow morning, can't I?" he finished, making sure that Fee understood; it was just a day's reprieve.

"...OK" she sniffed, "Th-thank you, Mr Smythe..."

"Please... you're too kind..." Mr Smythe, averting his gaze, I wish my previous tenants were as nice as you. And the next, I... guess"

And with that notion, he turned to slowly trudge away, back towards Goldenrod City. It didn't take long for Fee to fall into despair.

"Oh, Blake!" she crumbled, as she flung herself into my arms, "Wh-What're we gona do?!"

"L-let's get inside..." I shivered, "Make the most of what we... have..."

"Bree..." Luna mewed next to me, as if agreeing.

"O-OK" she sniffed, removing her head from my soaked torso, "That's... a-a good idea..."

And we slowly walked back to what was still her house, even if it was for only a day...

"C-C'mon keys..." she stifled, trying in vain to force her violently shaking hands to manipulate the cold, slippery key into the lock.

"Hey, hey..." I soothed, steadying her hands a little by holding them with my own, "We'll think of something, OK? Everything's gonna... be OK"

"I-I hope you're right, Blake..." she cracked, her voice thick and hoarse from stress. She finally manoeuvred the key into the lock, and forced the door open. However, the interior of the house only upset her further;

Her humble abode was empty.

Thanks to repo men, all the things she'd worked so hard for had been repossessed in order to pay the bills. Her bed, TV, furniture... everything. Even the power and water had been cut. She'd lost it all...

Except for the couch, that is. That was worthless.

"Oh man... this place is so depressing now..." she sighed, applying as little weight as she could to gently sit down on the rickety old couch.

However, that mere addition spurred an unpleasant creaking from deep within...

And it collapsed beneath her!

"Fee!" I gasped, dashing forwards to her, "You OK?!"

"Hnnnnnnnnnnn..." she sighed, rolling over and curling up in a ball on the dilapidated couch, "What else can go wrong?"

"We're gonna be fine, I'm sure..." I spoke softly, joining her on the couch. I didn't know exactly _how_ we were gonna be fine, now was I even sure _if_, but I have to at least attempt to keep her spirits up...

"How, Blake? _How?!_" she cried, sitting up and venting with open hand gestures. Reading my mind as usual...

"I... I don't know" I recoiled, feeling about three inches tall right now. Now only had I just upset her by suggesting the impossible, but proved it, too.

...I'm a terrible person.

"Ohh... I'm sorry, honey..." she sighed, burying her face in my chest once again, "I didn't mean to get angry..."

"Don't be..." I soothed, caressing her back, and grimacing as I felt ribs. An angry grumble in my stomach then illuminated an important point;

When had Fee last eaten?

I haven't for four days. Not since those two slices of bread from the food parcel that Arthur had brought around just over a week ago.

Man, that guy was too good to us. He can barely afford to feed himself, yet he still brought us food, knowing that we could _not_ afford it.

It took me an age to coax Fee into eating some of it, eventually convincing her that Arthur wouldn't want her to suffer like this.

But how long has it been since she _last_ ate? She needs to keep her strength up the best she can, or she'll be back in hospital, and we'll be back to square one again...

"I-I'll get the fire started..." I mumbled, reluctantly prying her loving warmth from my chest and wrenching myself off of the 'couch', before heading towards the spare room.

"O-OK" Fee shivered, rubbing her hands together for some warmth.

I'd been stockpiling wood in the spare room for the sake of heat. Ever since the power got cut a month back, the house has been like an igloo; freezing.

However, upon entering it, I noticed that we were pretty much out of firewood, too. Only a small handful left...

"You behave, OK Ned?" I instructed the mischievous looking Krokorok, who was loitering in the spare room for no apparent reason. He'd become so unsociable since evolving. Quite a shame, really...

"This is the last of the wood..." I announced solemnly to Fee upon my return to the lounge.

"Oh no..." Fee sighed, eyeing the small pile in my arms, "That sucks..."

"Tell me about it" I agreed, dropping the heap into the fireplace, "Argy... here boy"

"Hownnn...?" Argus yelped softly, rousing from his sleep. He hasn't been too well for a while now. Must be all the cold getting to him.

"D'you... think you could light this up for us, boy?" I asked him gently as he stumbled over towards me, still drowsy.

"Howwn..." he barked with a slow nod, before coughing, and exhaling a small Ember, which lit the fire with its weak, crimson flame.

"There's a good boy..." I soothed, gently rubbing his sides to indicate that he'd done the right thing, and let him be so he could go back to sleep, and optimise his energy retention.

"Poor Argy..." Fee sighed sadly, watching him collapse back to the ground and fall asleep almost instantly, "I wish there was something we could do to help him..."

"I-I'll be right back..." I mumbled, after stoking the fire a little to get it going.

"You going near the kitchen?" Fee asked, somehow knowing where I was going to go, "C-could you bring me back one of my books?"

"Will do" I replied, feeling just slightly better at that vague hint of happiness in her voice. I hadn't heard that in days...

I'll bet you're wondering why her books are still here, huh?"

Well, some repo guys came for her bookshelf about two weeks ago, because it was apparently a valuable antique, carved from Liechi wood from the Hoenn region. It took her nearly three hours of begging, followed by breaking down in from of them, but she had eventually appealed to their hearts, and convinced them to spare her books. Insisting they were worthless also helped her case.

That was the last time I saw her smile. I knew that, as long as she had her books, she wouldn't fall into complete despair...

I grabbed one of said books from the kitchen counter, where Fee had spent a good hour carefully stacking and organising her literature, according to genre, and then in alphanumerical order. I then looked back towards her. She was just sat there, with her arms around herself for warmth, watching Argus sleep by the armrest. I hate to think what would happen to Fee if he got sick…

Anyway, noticing that her attentions were elsewhere, I opened cupboard above her books as quietly as the tired shelves would allow. Inside it sat the remains of a loaf of bread; all the food we had left.

The pokéfood was long gone…

I'd stashed it up there for emergency rations, knowing it wouldn't last if its existence was known. Seeing as we were going to be homeless, starting tomorrow, I figured it qualified. I grabbed the bag of bread and closed the cupboard, returning to Fee anxiously. Convincing her to eat it will be… tricky.

"H-here you go" I shivered, carefully handing her the book.

"Ooh, '_The Tales of Mary Sue_'…" she yawned contentedly, "…good choice!"

She then noticed the bag in my hand, "W-what's that you've got there?"

"Fee…" I mumbled cautiously, reaching into the bag and pulling out the small piece of bread, "I… I'd like you to eat this, please"

Fee stared at the slightly stale chunk of bread I'd just offered her, the hunger shining in her eyes. It was evident that she wanted it, but…

"N-not hungry" she lied unconvincingly, opening her book and pretending to read it. Her eyes weren't moving, however…

"Aww, c'mon Fee…" I sighed, sitting next to her and offering once again, "How many days has it been since you ate something?"

"…Three" she eventually muttered, ignoring the perfectly audible grumble that had escaped from her disgruntled stomach.

"Then please, eat this…" I pleaded, "You really need it"

"So do the pokémon" Fee stated curtly, "If they don't eat, then nor do I"

"I'll go out and grab some berries, then" I suggested, pointing to her berry trees outside. They'd stopped blooming ages ago, but hopefully she won't call my bluff…

"Good luck finding berries that bloom in winter" she muttered. Dammit.

Taking the bread from my hands, she added "Here Argy… food…"

Argus' ears pricked up upon hearing his name, and he woke up, struggling to his feet and acknowledging his master.

"Here boy…" Fee cooed, tempting Argus with the pitiful scrap of bread. Ahh crap. There was no way I was gonna change her mind now…

Don't misunderstand; I know Argus needs food too. Hell, we all do. But Fee's the only one of us recovering from being in hospital. Yeah, I know it was four months ago, but I just don't wanna take that chance, y'know?

"Sorry Blake…" Fee mumbled, once again knowing my thoughts, "But I can't eat the last of our food knowing that Argy's sick…"

She shook the bread gently in Argus' direction, making a tacit plea to her loyal Houndoom. Argus eyed the loaf hungrily, with even a bead of drool dropping from his mouth. He cocked his head to the side, indicating both thought and… hesitation?

Argus looked to the bread. He _clearly _wanted it. But then his tired eyes travelled upwards a little to meet with Fee's. He saw the palid texture to her skin, the bloodshot veins, the huge, dark bags under her eyes, and worst of all, the horrible bruises on her cheeks, caused by attempting to sleep on that damned couch.

Her words were alluring, but the look on her face was one of sheer pain and sorrow. I wish I could somehow know what he was thinking right now…

But then something amazing happened. In what had to be the most selfless act I'd ever seen, Argus swallowed his hunger, and gently nudged Fee's hand away with his nose!

Oh, Argy…

"W-what the?!" Fee stammered, well and truly flummoxed, "C-c'mon boy… I know you want this…"

Argus responded with a soft whimper, lying down as a sign of submission. Although he was disobeying his master, which he obviously considered taboo - hence the wary look that had just flashed across his face - but I could fully understand why;

"He doesn't wanna see his master get sick…" I dared, "Not again"

"Oh, b-but…" Fee hesitantly retorted, "But I don't wanna see you get sick either, boy!"

However, a simple, reserved stare from Argus told Fee that his will was set. As much as he wanted that scrap of bread, he wanted his master to eat it more.

"Ohh, fine then…" Fee condeded, declining her offer, "Luna, you want this nice bread?"

Luna looked up cautiously from her curled up sleeping position, next to where Argus was previously, and noticed the bread in her hand. She too looked Fee in the eye, and didn't take long to come to the same conclusion as Argus.

"Bree" she mewed resolutely, with a gentle shake of the head.

Good girl, Luna. Maybe now Fee will admit defeat?

"Aw man…" Fee sighed, "Where's Ned? He'll take it"

"Fee, look!" I exclaimed, almost shocking myself with how angry that outburst sounded. "You need to eat. Please!"

"Why, Blake?" she snapped, "Why do _I_ need to eat so badly, and neglect you guys?!"

"Cause I don't wanna see you back in hospital!" I gasped, feeling the unwanted prickle of tears sting my eyes. And Fee noticed this. But I tell you one thing; it worked.

"Oh, gosh…" she whispered, fully taken aback, "This… really means that much to you?"

"Of course, Fee" I sighed, rubbing my eyes, "More than anything…"

"To get you to show emotion…" she mused, staring longingly at the bread, "…OK. I give"

And finally, as if forcing herself, she tore off a chunk of the bread with her teeth and began to chew it slowly. It was probably painfully dry, and taste would've been a luxury far beyond anyone's hopes, but at least she was eating…

Thank _Arceus_ that Ned hadn't been in the room at the time; he would've taken it for sure.

"Thank you _soooo_ much, Fee" I sighed with relief, sitting down next to her on the couch and hugging her from the side, "It really does mean a lot that you're-"

But as I was speaking, the always cunning Fee hatched a 'brilliant' idea, forcing the last of the bread into my mouth when I least expected it!

"Wha?!"I garbled, almost choking on the half a mouthful of bread, "Why'd you do tha'?!"

"Cause you need food, too" Fee stated, swallowing the last of hers, "And besides, now were even" she added, with a playful poke of the tongue.

Now _there_ was something I hadn't seen in a while…

"Alright…" I sighed, rolling my eyes and swallowing. Yup. It _was_ horribly dry and tasteless. But I could almost feel some of my strength returning with that one small mouthful sliding down my throat, inducing a happy gurgle as my digestive system rediscovered itself.

"But still, thanks for doing that for me, Fee" I continued with a kiss on the forehead (for her cheeks were bruised), "Hey, did you wanna read your book to me?

It might sound like a strange suggestion, but Fee has a love of reading aloud. Plus, she deserved a treat, so I thought I'd solve as many problems as I could at once.

"Depends…" Fee replied with a snide – but frail – smile, "Kiss me _properly_ and I just might"

"Haha, alright, you've twisted my arm…" I chuckled, expressing a feeling that had been all but forgotten in recent weeks…

Sliding down just slightly, I pressed myself up against her a little tighter, and wrapped my arms around her midriff, where my hands connected across her opposite hip, and I rested against her chest, where she extended her arm around the back of my neck. We might've had a few tough months, but as long as we have each other… I think we'll make it.

Even though her skin had lost its lustre, her hair some of its sheen, and her lips their colour, as this moment they looked just as inviting as ever. And her eyes, gently flickering in the dim light of the fire, were still just as vibrant a green as they'd ever been, if not more so tonight, thanks to the fire's contrast…

I slowly leant forward, feeling the soft pressure of her lips against mine. And her closing green eyes flooded my vision before I closed my own, letting the chemistry do the work. First there was the rush of endorphins, thanks to our bodies 'synchronising', which was followed by a surge of blood throughout, which of course spurred that feeling of complete euphoria that only a moment such as this can produce, and finally…

Ohhhh yeahh…

While the firework display wasn't nearly as spectacular as our first time (I don't think that one will ever get beaten), it was still pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.

"Ooh, nicely done…" Fee giggled after we'd separated, her eyes actually dilated from pleasure, "Ohhk then. Let's get lost in a book, shall we?"

Luna jumped across my lap, and even Argus found the strength to stagger up onto the back of the couch, in anticipation of Fee's reading. Fee herself shuffled down into a slightly more comfortable position, and propped her book open with her right hand, angling it against the fire for ease of reading, before taking in a deep breath:

"_Mary Sue was a normal, everyday teenage girl" _Fee started, putting on her 'story' voice _"She liked shoes, and clothes, and talking to her small group of friends on the phone, among other things. But one thing was different about Mary Sue; whenever her friends would start talking about pokémon, Mary sue would simply ignore them. And why? Because Mary Sue didn't like pokémon…_

"Wait, what?" I remarked, unintentionally interrupting her, "A pokémon story about a girl who doesn't like pokémon? Huh?"

"Just wait…" Fee muttered gently, turning the dog-eared page with a soft rustle, and continued.

"_No one was exactly sure why Mary Sue didn't like pokémon" _Fee announced, with emphasis on the 'why', _"Some thought she only said it for attention. Others, mainly friends, would be nicer, and insisted that she was just being herself. But the general consensus was that she was simply attempting to stick out. And this she accomplished, but not in the way that she'd hoped. Her dislike of pokémon lead to her being bullied terribly at her high school, which only worsened her opinion of both pokémon and herself. She wanted desperately to fit in, but for who she was, not pretending to be someone she wasn't…"_

"Ahh, there I can relate" I commented, noticing the illustration that depicted an intentionally poorly drawn girl with brown pigtails, in tears and cornered by taunting students, in what appeared to be a science-based classroom. It dredged up my foul memories of my high school. Such a terrible place…

"See? Not so bad, huh?" Fee teased, returning to her reading with another turn of the page;

"_However, things were about to change for Mary Sue, whether she liked it or not. Upon arriving home from school, she noticed that her house was suspiciously quiet. Empty, in fact. No mother cleaning, no father watching TV in the lounge… nothing._

_Mary Sue's suspicion rose to greater heights when she found a note on the dining room table, weighed down by a poké ball._

_Confused, Mary Sue removed the poké ball from atop the note, and read:_

Fee then changed to her 'deep voice' to personify the father figure. Suppressing a giggle, she carried on:

_**To My Dearest Daughter.**_

_**Sorry to upset your happy life like this, but I was left with no other choice – I need your help.**_

_**Your mother has been kidnapped by the dastardly Team Galaxy, and I fear for her safety, so I have gone to find her. However, I risk getting kidnapped also, so I ask for you to come to the far away region of Kyoto, for our sakes.**_

_**In the poké ball is a pokémon. It will help you get here once you have befriended it and others like it. Be careful, though. It is not an easy pokémon to befriend.**_

_**I know you don't like pokémon, but you are our only option. Please, daughter, I beg of you; become a strong trainer, and help us…**_

_**Love, father"**_

"Man I love this book…" Fee mumbled happily, flipping through the pages to an illustration about two-thirds of the way through, depicting the main character raising a poké ball threateningly at a dark, mysterious figure in the background, with a small pokémon by her side that looked like… was it a Pachirisu?

The picture came with a short caption beneath it; _'"What have you done with my parents?!" Mary Sue screamed to the evil Giuseppe, who only smiled back maliciously'_

And Fee carried on reading through the book, her magical voice seemingly transporting us into the world of Mary Sue, where we witnessed the tough challenges she faced in befriending and training the obnoxious Pachirisu, the hardships and obstacles she overcame, and her searching for her parents' whereabouts…

I yawned contentedly, feeling very comfortable right now, with Fee's mellifluous voice coursing through me like beams of concentrated happy, and resting my head against the softness of her chest…

"_But wait, there's something I have to tell you"_ Fee continued reading, quite a length through the story now, _"Gary Stu turned around slowly before replying, "…what is it? I don't have much time…"_

_The nervous Mary Sue visibly trembled with fear as she uttered her slow response, "I… I think I- _oh man, getting hard to read now…"

I was roused from my semi-conscious state by Fee's voice returning to normal, and I shook off the drowsiness just in time to hear her yelp, "Blake! The fire's almost out!"

"Wha?!" I gasped, bolting up off of the couch and consulting the fire which, indeed, had burned down to just a few glowing cinders!

"Ahh crap!" I exclaimed, "And we're outta wood, too!"

"C-can't Argy re-light it, or something?!" Fee suggested, half hopefully, and half desperately.

"'Fraid not…" I sighed, returning to her and sitting back down sombrely, "It needs something to burn, not more fire…"

Fee eyed her book longingly, and mumbled "Guess I gotta…"

I had just enough time to read her intentions and extend an objecting arm.

"NO!" I yelled, snatching at the book as it left her hand and flew into the remains of the fire!

The flames caught instantly, incinerating the book beyond saving in just mere seconds!

"Wh-wh-why?!" I gasped, already feeling it burn pleasantly, "Y-you loved that book!"

"We needed firewood" Fee replied earnestly, "And that was all we had.."

"But… wasn't it really important to you?" I queried, stunned.

"Not as important as you guys…" Fee whispered happily, resting her head on my chest.

No words could be used to describe this moment. It was just…

Yeah, seriously. I'm drawing a blank here. She's just sacrificed one of her most prized possessions for the sake of keeping us warm.

…wow.

"Goodbye, Mary Sue" Fee mumbled reservedly, watching the pages burn away, "You've taught me so much over these years…"

Looking over to the book amidst the flames, I could scarcely make out a picture of Mary Sue kissing a slightly taller male with spiky blonde hair in front of… was that a full moon?!

"Oh, now I get it…" I chuckled, gently squeezing Fee, who responded by kissing me on the cheek.

And bathed in the warmth of Mary Sue's adventures, we slowly drifted off…

_Meanwhile…_

* * *

"So" Giovannni mused, pacing across an expansive torture chamber, cane in hand, and Persian at his heels. His captive was none other than the one known as ShadowKnight, bound to a large metal ring by the wrists and ankles!

"The great Aedeus Nyx..." Giovanni continued, stopping to face his captor, "What do you say? Join our struggle?"

"Forget it!" he spat, "I'd sooner die than help you!"

"Ahh, the code of the International Police…" Giovanni chuckled softly, "How admirable. Foolish, however. Ghetsis!"

Giovanni pointed commandingly at Ghetsis, who flipped a lever in front of him, which sent strong electrical pulses through Nyx's body!

"Nnnggggggggggggah!" he gasped, resisting the electricity with all his might, all the while fighting to remain conscious.

"Change of heart?" Giovanni taunted, pushing at Nyx's face with his cane to get his attention.

"N-never!" Nyx gasped, straining to breathe.

"Haha, have it your way…" Giovanni threatened, "Ghetsis, one more t-"

"Uhh… if I may?" Ghetsis interrupted, at the risk of displeasing Giovanni, "I-Instead of forcing a change of heart, how about we save on electricity and just tear it out?"

"…Splendid idea, Ghetsis!" Giovanni praised him, "So, Nyx… I hear you have a daughter!"

Nyx's eyes bolted open, "N-no!"

And Giovanni's spine chilling laughter could be heard echoing through the enormous room. However, Nyx still had one trick up his sleeve.

"Don't you worry, Nyx…" Eyes reassured him via his hearing implant, "Help is on the way. Do not worry about your daughter, either. I will find her, and make sure she is safe…"

* * *

**Author's note: Well, this chapter reintroduces the story's main characters, Blake and Fee, in their updated situation. Not all sunshine and rainbows, huh?**

**This is the length and quality of detail I hope to remain consistent with throughout the entirety of the story. Hope it meets your guys' standards? **

**And some feedback responses:**

**Gaurdian Wolf4 - Cause I love cliffhangers, heh. Gets people asking questions, which gets them to discuss their question, and hopefully attract more readers. It's a sneaky way of advertising. :D**

**WildCroconaw - Glad I didn't disappoint. :3**

**Pikachucat and Species Unknown - Thanks for your thoughts, guys. :)**


	3. An Unexpected Arrival

**An Unexpected Arrival**

*knock*

*knock knock*

"Ungh..." I grunted, eventually shaken awake by repeated knocking at the front door. The hell? A visitor?

I guess it could be Mr Smythe, ready to evict us...

My blurry vision eventually focused on the shamefully barren room, with the dying embers of the fire sulking in the background, and a light purplish haze outside, indicating two things;

Firstly, that is was cold outside. And secondly, that we would inevitably be facing bad weather on our first day as homeless people.

Gee, talk about ominous...

Judging by the light intensity outside, I estimated the time at somewhere around 7:30, which I guess wasn't _too_ bad a time to wake up...

My long range vision had finished focusing at last, and now came the short range. The welcome sight of Fee resting her head on my chest was both a relief and a slight worry. A relief, simply because she was there, so warm and huggable. But it was also cause for concern, because she was normally such a light sleeper. Usually, she's be up now and ready for work. Well, two months ago, maybe. Nowadays, with no job and no food inside of her, she has no real reason or motivation to wake up early. Not to mention no energy...

*knock knock knock* came the impatient 'visitor' once again.

"Alright, alright..." I yawned, taking as much care as I could to gently shift Fee's fragile head off of my chest and onto the sole remaining cushion, before forcing myself to my feet and stumbling towards the door.

Thanks to the fire, it was still reasonably warm, but my eyes were so tired, it felt as though someone was attempting to weigh my upper eyelids down with bags of sugar. And they were doing a good job too, because the result was a lot of stinging pain, double vision, and stupid amounts of photosensitivity. Ironic, huh?

I can control light, yet I can't handle it invading my vision this early in the morning...

I blame the lack of food.

After the door handle eventually blurred into place, I manipulated it open and found a hazy figure standing in front of me.

"Hey there. I have a package for-" the male voice started, but was then injected with a quiver of concern, "...A-are you alright?"

"Hunh?" I yawned, rubbing my exhausted eyes to try and focus them. Interestingly, it had an effect similar to that of tuning an old radio, with the twisting action of my hands slowly sharpening my vision.

"Are... you OK, kid?" the figure spoke once again, whom I'd eventually identified as a delivery guy. But I guess that was obvious. He did say he had a package for someone, after all...

But what could he possibly deliver to us? We can't afford anything to order anything...?

Could be a wrong address, I suppose.

"Y-yeah, I'm... OK, I guess" I mumbled, stifling down another mighty yawn, "Just... ti-i-ired..."

"If... if you're sure..." the delivery guy muttered anxiously, "Is there a Felicity Nyx here?" I have a delivery for her..."

So the plot thickens...

"Yeah, she's here" I answered, more than slightly surprised that we were being delivered something without being able to _buy_ anything, "Sleeping, though..."

"Oh..." the delivery guy stammered, "Well..." and he noticed the look on my face, indicating that waking her was _not_ a good idea, "... I'm gonna need a sign for this..."

He gestured to the small parcel in his other hand, which was just slightly too big to fit into his palm and cube shaped. Hmm...

"I can do that" I announced, receiving the clipboard from him gratefully and scribbling down a signature. Mine looks like this:

I start off with a capital 'B', for Blake, of course, but I miss the bottom of the 'B' intentionally to curve round into a 'C' behind it, for Crescent. I then retrace back over the C, sometimes missing the line slightly and going outside of it. Then, once the edge of the C has met up with the bottom right of the B, I scribble out the remainder of my surname. Classy, huh?

"Alright, thanks!" the delivery guy exclaimed, squinting at my untidy signature, "That thing's been floating around the region for a while. _So_ glad it's finally home!"

"Glad?" I queried, raising an eyebrow. That's an unusual thing to say, especially when it's just a simple item delivery...

"Yeah!" the delivery guy cried, strangely ecstatic, "Cause now the guys at work owe me 500 poke!"

"O...K?" I stammered, now completely confused. The delivery guy felt the need to explain.

"Well, it was a difficult delivery, 'cause we didn't have much to go on. Only a couple of letters..." he started, "And hence it went all around the region. Who would've known it was just in the next town?!"

He then danced back to Goldenrod, skipping every third or fourth step, and leaving me with the small package. Still none the wiser, I might add...

Frowning with genuine confusion, I examined the little box. A couple of finger taps told me that whatever was inside if was a different shape, and the frayed string holding the wrapping paper on suggested that it had been opened many times, most likely by security at post offices and such. This evidence was supported by the plethora of stamps that had been printed on it, giving the indication that it had been to pretty much every post office in the region, and even one in Kanto; namely Fuchsia City. I couldn't help but wonder why they thought they should leave the region's _capital_ for last...

Walking back into the house and carefully closing the door, so to avoid waking Fee, my memory was suddenly spurred to one thing the delivery guy said:

"So glad it's finally home!"

Why was he glad? I mean, sure, 500 poke is pretty good motivation, and so would be solving the puzzle of a vague and tricky delivery, but why did a paperweight need a 'home'?

That was an oddly specific word to use for an inanimate object...

Agh. Instead of letting the object's arcane history gnaw away at my resolve, I'll just let Fee open it. The prospect of a new thing _should_, theoretically, cheer her up, and I'll get to see what it is! Win win!

But then I remembered; she was still asleep.

Do I wait for her to wake up to a nice surprise, or do I let the little goblin-like thing that was poking me in the side with a sharp stick – also known as curiosity – get the better of me?

I don't wanna risk making her mad by awakening her too early...

But then my dilemma was solved. The metaphorical goblin disappeared in a puff of imaginary green smoke, because he was no longer needed; Fee was waking up!

"Murrgh..." she grunted, lazily sitting up on the couch and rubbing her rheumy eyes before noticing me, "...Blake? Why're you just... standing there?"

"Morning!" I cried, whitewashing over a potentially awkward situation with a change of subject, due to not being able to think up a witty excuse in time, "You got a parcel in the mail!"

"I...what?" she hesitated, clearly still groggy. Perhaps she thought she misheard?

Then again, barraging her with conversation the moment she'd woken up wasn't exactly wise. I knew this from personal experience...

Ah well. Too late now.

"Look, a thing! For you!" I announced, strangely excited. I sat down beside her on the dilapidated couch, and pushed the parcel into her hands.

"What the...?" Fee stammered, lifting it closer to her face and straining to read the name on the front of it, "Feli-ci-ty... Nyx... that's definitely me...?"

A small spark of intrigue flitted across her face as she fiddled with the tiny, frayed bow of string, trying her best to manipulate her weary fingers around it whilst still not quite awake yet. The knot eventually came loose after some tense seconds of negotiating with it, instead revealing a spherical...

_That was no paperweight!_

"Huh?" Fee queried groggily, lifting the capsule from its packaging as gently as her clumsy, half asleep fingers would allow, "A... poke ball?"

She squinted in confusion at the poke ball that now rest in her palm, "...there's a smudge on it..."

She slowly raised her thumb to wipe away the 'smudge' on the northern hemisphere of the poke ball. But upon doing so, her eyes bolted open, and she sprang up from the couch, suddenly full of energy!

"C-c-c-could it be?!" she stammered, holding the ball up to the faint light of the outside for a better look, "_Oh_ my!"

I scrambled over towards her to see what all the excitement was about, where I noticed that, neatly scratched into the top hemisphere were the initials, 'F.N'.

?!

"That's... that's the poke ball!" I spluttered almost unintelligibly. Remember the poke ball I found in Azalea Town, with Fee's initials on it? Well, here it is! Talk about the perfect moment!

"I-is that you?!" Fee asked her poke ball as if it were actually able to respond, before treating it like an armed mine, feeling as though it would explode at any given second. The spherical shape just added to the effect. All it needed was a fuse, really...

It was almost like she was stalling for suspense, with how slowly her shaking index finger neared the button to release its contents. But then again, I guess she didn't want to break it now, did she?

That would be the ultimate heartbreak...

I could probably bet a lot of money – which I don't have – that this poke ball hasn't been opened since it was last held by Fee. It that was the case, then I could understand her anxiety about opening it. Poke balls degrade over time if they aren't used, y'know?

Fee eventually mustered up the courage to press the little button in between the two hemispheres, and let out a shriek of horror – mixed with a tinge of fear – as it made a strange noise...

You know that sound an old TV makes when you turn it on after not having used it in a while?

A kind of really high frequency whistle, that deepens a little, and stops after a second or so?

Well, that's the sound this poke ball made. Repeatedly.

"Is... is it broken?" Fee asked, eyes lined with tears, "Please don't be broken...?!"

I stood by her side, ready to offer my supporting shoulder at a moment's notice, should this end badly. We watched and waited, for the poke ball was still making those noises, with the central button lighting up in phase with them. However, also like on an old TV, they were gradually increasing in duration. One second... one and a half... two seconds...

The suspense was proving too much for Fee, who was all but ready to collapse to the ground and break down in tears. But that one thread of hope kept her knees from buckling beneath her.

* * *

An eternity had passed, and the little whistling noise had extended in duration to about ten seconds now, but still no change, otherwise. A single tear abseiled its way down Fee's left cheek, followed by a partner on the opposite side.

"M-maybe not..." her voice cracked. Empty. Abandoned. Desolate. Her green eyes, usually brimming with energy, were now full... of nothing. She'd lost all hope. Crashing to the ground painfully, there was little left for her to do but fall to pieces...

"Ohh, I'm so sorry, Fee..." I murmured, crouching down with her and holding her tight. She just about dropped the ball, and began to sob uncontrollably into my chest. It took a lot to break Fee. Seriously, even when she was in hospital, and thought she was on death's door, she remained strong, for _me, _if anyone. But nothing could hold her emotions back this time, for it was the final straw. The thread... has snapped.

'Twang!'

* * *

**Author's note: Wow, I think this is the longest ten minutes or so I've ever written. **

**What're your guys' thoughts on the first cliff-hanger of the story?**

**Was that noise the metaphorical sound that a heartstring snapping would make? Or is it a poke ball finally functioning?**

**Send me your thoughts. :3**

**Oh, also, what do you guys think is in there? I'm curious.**


	4. Turning Over A New Leaf

**Turning Over A New Leaf**

Both of us stared, stunned, at the capsule that dangled loosely in Fee's hand. Tears still sliding down her face, she mustered the energy to tighten her grip on the poke ball, for her hope had just been revived. Perhaps it was just a temporary band aid, to peel away should her heart become any heavier with undeserved burden. But maybe, just maybe, it'll be the operation that fixes her problems, and give her the wings she needs to fly…

And it looked like it was operating now!

With an almighty gasp from Fee, we both watched in awe as the thinnest of white beams of light emerged from the centre of the poke ball!

Slowly, the beam of light concentrated, and neither of us dared move, or barely even _breathe_, for fear of jinxing it or something. After what felt like an age of staring at the tiny white flash, it eventually began to take the faintest of shapes!

Four stubby looking legs could now be seen somewhat clearly, as if whatever pokémon that was in this poke ball was being 'loaded', pixel by pixel. Perhaps that 'twang' noise that the poke ball made was the poke ball 'restarting' itself, like the backup system on a computer? It sounded a little different to the usual 'toing'…

I tore my eyes away from this amazing event for just a moment, instead gazing towards Fee, whose expression couldn't be in greater contrast from how she looked earlier. Her face had that faint glow that I hadn't seen since we left the hospital. The smallest upturn of the lips was definitely visible along her mouth, forming faint dimples in her cheeks. Her face showed life again.

But the best change was to be seen in her eyes. It was only the subtlest of changes, but it was _there_. The passion I used to see in her eyes whenever she discussed something pokémon related, or when she played with Argus, was sparkling gently amidst those seas of endless green. I even caught a glimpse of it last night, after our kiss…

I can't quite describe it. It's like someone has physically reached into her mind and flicked her 'happy' switch back on.

Heh, you could say she's seen the light. And I'm not talking about the little fraction of light that was shining in front of her. I mean like the metaphorical light that symbolises her life force; her will to live…

Speaking of that little beam of light, it had finally finished 'loading'!

Sat in front of the poke ball was a sleeping Grass-type. With the four previously mentioned stubby looking legs curled under it, there was also a short stump of a tail to be seen, with a bulky looking body that had a 'necklace' of flower buds, and a fairly large leaf – which sported a hole near its centre – sprouting out of the top of its head.

Yep, that's right; Chikorita.

Strange… I'd always imagined Fee being more of a Cyndaquil kind of girl, due to her sunny personality. Guess I was wrong, heh.

"Oh, oh my _gosh!" _Fee gushed, diving forwards and hugging the tiny Chikorita, which somehow remained asleep, "Fernadette! I thought I was never gonna see you again!"

The little Chikorita stirred, and I couldn't help but laugh slightly, "F-Fernadette?"

"Aww, c'mon Blake, I was twelve…" Fee cooed, nuzzling her head against Fernadette "'Sides, you're one to talk. A Krokorok named _Ned_?"

But Fee's nuzzling had the effect of rousing her Chikorita, who responded badly to this new, strange attention.

"Chikah?!" she gasped, squirming out of Fee's grip and attacking her with her leaf as some means of defending herself!

"Ow, ow, ahh, wh-what the?!" Fee cried, backing away from a defensive Fernadette, "W-what's wrong with her?"

"M-maybe she's forgotten you?" I suggested timidly, "It has been like five years since she last saw you, after all"

"That's a point…" Fee mused, "And I guess I do look different now…"

"I'll say" I agreed, remembering the photo in her trainer's license before she had it replaced.

"Looks like I'll have to start from scratch…" Fee sighed. Looking towards Fernadette, who still held her leaf in a defensive stance, "Oh well! I'm just so glad to have you back!"

She kept her distance, and simply looked at her Chikorita, waiting for her to lower her guard.

"If I keep eye contact…" Fee announced softly, "It might just spur her memory"

"Or show her that you're not trying to attack her?" I suggested, trying to not appear completely useless when it came to pokémon knowledge. There was no question that I wasn't on Fee's standard, thanks to her work experiences, but I'd like to think I had at least _some_ idea, after what I've been through with Ned, Luna and even Argus.

"Also true" Fee giggled quietly. Maintaining her eye contact, she ever so slowly reached forwards, intending to stroke Fernadette, it would seem. Fernadette still held her leaf up threateningly, but her desire to attack was soon quelled once Fee gently laid her middle and index fingers on her back, and began to stroke her softly. Fernadette's expression slowly morphed from a hostile 'Get away from me, strange person!' to a contented 'OK, that feels sorta nice…'

"There we go…" Fee soothed, continuing to stroke Fernadette along her back, "Who's a good girl?"

"It _is_ quite a cute name" I admitted as Fernadette finally conceded to letting Fee hug her once again, making sure she understood that I wasn't mocking her name choice, "I just expected something a little more subtle, like Argus, y'know?"

Argus wearily raised his head after hearing me speak his name, but promptly turned to go back to sleep after realising that it wasn't important, just his master hugging some green leafy thing?

But he then grunted in confusion, and dragged himself to his feet, slowly stumbling towards Fee with the intention of inspecting this matter further, it would seem. He seemed set in his ways, wanting to know _why_ his master was hugging this strange green thing…

This might not go over very well…

"Ooh, Argy!" Fee noticed, lifting her face away from a once again sleeping Fernadette for a second to pat Argus atop his head, "Look!"

"Uhh… are you sure about this?" I asked warily. Argus wasn't exactly welcoming towards strangers, least of all small Grass-type ones…

"It'll be fine, don't worry" Fee tried to reassure me, "C'mon Argy. Come say hi!"

Argus heeded his master's command, and clumsily leaned down to inspect the tiny green mass she has just lowered back to the ground. Resting so peacefully, she sure was a cute sight to behold, at least in my eyes. Argus didn't react the same way, though. The way he saw it, I imagine, it was like she loved Fernadette more!

"Harrrn!" Argus snarled angrily, disliking Fernadette straight away!

With small embers erupting from his nostrils as a mere by-product of exhaling, thanks to his current fury, he was an intimidating sight to even Fee or I, forget the tiny Fernadette!

"Chika!" Fernadette gasped, hiding her face behind her front legs and oversized leaf as a desperate attempt to protect herself from the incoming attack!

"Howwn!" Argus howled, ready to lunge, but Fee dove in at just the right moment.

"No, Argy! No!" she scolded, holding him by the muzzle so that he couldn't attack the petrified Chikorita, "Argy, STAY!"

…wow. That was brave of her.

As much as Argus wanted to tear the little invader to shreds, he was just given a direct order from his master, and the look on her face suggested that a punishment would follow, should he fail to comply.

So, with great reluctance, Argus sat, resting his hind legs and assuming the 'heel' position.

"There's a good boy…" Fee soothed, carefully removing her hands from Argus' muzzle. Once she was certain that he simply would attempt another attack, she moved to pick up the tiny Fernadette, who quivered at her touch, still 'protecting' herself behind her leaf.

"Now, Argy…" Fee instructed, watching carefully as she presented Fernadette to him. The thing was still terrified, and small enough to fit on her two palms, but Fee evidently trusted Argus infinitely, because she had the audacity to say, "You be _nice!_"

Argus snorted disapprovingly at Fee's orders, but they _were_ orders, after all. So, with smoke escaping from his flared nostrils, Argus remained where he was.

"It's OK, it's OK…" Fee cooed, attempting to persuade Fernadette to show herself. After much coaxing, the leaf was eventually lifted away, and Fernadette opened her eyes, revealing bright red irises that could only be described as 'adorable'. She made contact with the disgruntled Argus, and fear tore through her – made evident by the resurgent of her violent shaking – but she kept her stare nonetheless. Perhaps out of fear of breaking it…

"C'mon Argy…" Fee dared, biting her bottom lip tentatively, "S-say hi!"

The uncertainty lingered in her voice, and I couldn't blame her after what almost happened. However, Argus gave his master a sour look, as if to say 'You're pushing it', and amazingly, obeyed her command, making a gruff noise of acknowledgement and… moving closer?!

"Umm… Fee?" I hesitated, feeling like I was repeating myself "A-are you sure about this, after last time?"

"Sure I'm sure" Fee answered as calmly as she could. Fernadette wasn't nearly as confident, however, sheltering behind her leaf once again. But Argus appeared to have changed his tune somewhat – albeit begrudgingly – for he extended his tongue to greet Fernadette in the typical canine fashion; licking her.

"Chikah?" Fernadette squeaked, confused upon being treated in such a strange manner. She looked out from behind her leaf once again, and noticed Argus staring solemnly at her. But Fernadette showed no fear this time. Shining in her eyes was a look of respect. This big, scary Houndoom could've ended her life in mere seconds if he wanted, but he chose not to. Even if their owner had to intervene, it still looked like grounds for respect in Fernadette's book.

"Reeh!" she cried, shaking her leaf from left to right, clearly ecstatic about having made a new 'friend'. Argus wasn't nearly as cheerful, however.

"Atta boy, Argy!" Fee praised him, gently placing the dancing Fernadette back on the ground and hugging her Houndoom gratefully, "Ohh, you're such a good boy!"

She started to scratch Argus in his favourite spot, and almost instantly, he fell to the ground in happiness, with his leg kicking out to show it.

"Now Argy…" Fee announced, stopping the scratching to that his full attention could be accessed, "Just 'cause I've got two pokémon now, it doesn't mean I'm gonna neglect you. I love you _just_ as much. Got it?"

Argus let out a low, submissive whine, which almost _sounded_ like 'alright…', but that whine escalated into a horrible choking noise, which I guess was his rendition of coughing. Poor Argus… all that drama must've taken a lot out of him…

"Aww, poor boy…" Fee sighed, resting her head against his chest and hugging him carefully. However, it was Fernadette's actions that shocked me.

"Chiiik…?" she squeaked, noticing Argus' plight and toddling up to his face. Argus gave her a restrained warning growl, but she wasn't deterred, and placed her leaf across his face!?

Everyone else in the room watched in a stunned silence as Fernadette began to glow a gentle blue, followed shortly by Argus, for whatever energy was brimming inside of Fernadette was transferred into him via her leaf. But then, the most wonderful of aromas wafted through the air, drifting its way up my nostrils and somehow releasing a burst of vitality inside of me!

The clean, clear air that Fernadette had released was practically cleansing my entire circulatory system! I felt… renewed! Revitalised even!

"Oh, wow…" Fee sighed, sniffing happily, "What a beautiful smell…"

Fernadette lifted her leaf from Argus' nose, looking pleased with herself. The glowing stopped, and Argus found his feet, standing up with no trouble. A few deep breaths had him barking happily!

"W-what the?!" I gasped, stunned, "Did she just… heal him?"

"I think that was… Aromatherapy!" Fee mused, before excitedly picking Fernadette up again and praising him, "Ohh, who's a _clever girl?!"_

Fernadette stared back at her owner warily, quite unsure how to react. Clearly she still wasn't used to having a trainer pay her attention.

"Aww, you'll get used to me eventually…" Fee laughed inwardly, before inspiration sparked in her eyes, "H-hey Blake… I just remembered…"

"Remembered?" I queried, uncertain where she was going with this insanely vague phrase, "Remembered what?"

"…I'm a _pokémon trainer…"_ she whispered, staring lovingly at the young Chikorita in her arms, "We've been stuck in this house for four months, when we could've been out there, travelling…"

An unreal sensation washed over me with this notion. Was she really suggesting what I thought she was?

"Well, what better time?" I ventured, "We've nearly paid off the debt to the hospital, you've just got your long lost pokémon back, and it's time for us to leave the house anyway…"

"Yeah…" Fee murmured, a slight quaver in her voice at the thought of losing her precious house, "…yeah, you're right! It's now or never!"

"Yeahah!" I cried, actually excited, "Luna, Ned! C'mon guys, we've gotta get ready!"

"Bree?" Luna questioned, walking over from her corner, and Ned waddled into the room grumpily. Looks like they're ready…

"Good thing we don't have much to pack, huh?" I added honestly, listing things with my fingers, "Let's see… clothes, the camping gear, pokémon supplies… what about your books?"

"Ohh, my books…" Fee mused, raising a pensive hand to her chin and staring at them longingly, "Dammit, they're too heavy to pack…"

"Could ask someone to look after them?" I suggested, with a small shrug.

"That's an idea" Fee agreed, returning her hand to Fernadette and stroking her along the back, "But who? Arthur doesn't have the room…"

"…Mr. Smythe?" I ventured, wincing. I half expected her to get angry and shout 'That's a terrible idea!'

But she did nothing of the sort.

"Means we could probably just leave them here…" she mumbled thoughtfully, "…sounds good to me! Let's pack up the other stuff and ask!"

* * *

It only took about half an hour to pack what little we had. I slung the heavy camping gear across my shoulders, while Fee took two of her books (I'm guessing they were important), our licenses, the remains of our pokémon supplies, and about a week's worth of clothes each. They weren't clean, however…

We were weak, tired, hungry, and probably rather smelly... but we were finally journeying together.

"Just a short trip today…" Fee instructed, "We're only gonna drop off my keys at Mr. Smythe's, and see if he can look after my books… then we're heading back to the poke centre, OK?"

"Sounds good" I concurred. The poke centre couldn't help us out with food or anything previously, because we were Goldenrod residents before we were trainers. But now that we were homeless…

"And we can plan our next move from there" Fee explained, placing Fernadette on the floor so she could get acquainted with Luna and Ned. I noticed her intentions, and gave a small chuckle of acknowledgement.

"Guys…" I announced to the pair, "Meet Fernadette"

I gestured to the little Chikorita, and both of them looked at the tiny shrub, who span her leaf around once as a sign of being sociable.

"Be _nice_, OK? I ordered, mostly towards Ned, as Luna was generally accepting of new pokémon.

"Bree!" Luna mewed happily, peering closer to say 'hi' to Fernadette, with a cute wiggle of her tail. Ned snorted ambivalently.

"I guess that's better than nothing…" I sighed at Ned's nonchalance, "…right. Ready?"

"I-I think so" Fee stammered, wading in her jeans pocket for her keys, and approaching the door, this time having no trouble unlocking it.

A strange sense of de ja vu washed over me here. Once again, I found myself standing in front of Fee's door, waiting to be swallowed up by the never-ending depths of the outside world. However, this time, instead of anxiously dreading the inevitable, I was eagerly anticipating the adventures!

With Fee and the pokémon by my side, I really did feel like the world was our Cloyster. And with a gentle twist of the door handle, it once again became available to us!

* * *

**Author's note: Sorry so little happens in this chapter. **

**Were you shocked to see a Chikorita burst out of that poke ball? I have a huge soft spot for them, so I felt pretty much obliged to put one in, lol.**

**The story's gonna progress at a slower pace than the original, to symbolise Blake and Fee's time together. Every moment is an eternity, etc…**

**As always, any and all thoughts will be greatly appreciated. Please read and review if you can! :3**


	5. On The Road Again

**On The Road Again**

The only bad thing to happen so far today was being right about the weather. A cold, steady mist hung in the air, and rain threatened in the sky above, whereas the sun looked powerless to penetrate the heavy grey clouds that taunted us. Not the best day to start a journey, but it really was a case of now or never.

Whether this was the end of an era or the start of a new one, I'll never know, but either way, Fee was set in her ways, letting out a reserved sigh and locking her door for the last time. The key jammed in the lock, forcing her to double back and physically manipulate the narrow strip of metal from its humble abode. It was almost as if her house didn't want her to leave…

"Goodbye, house…" Fee shivered, snuggling up against me for warmth, "C-c-c'mon, let's get this over with"

The bitter twang in her voice told me just how difficult this was for her. For the past six years, she always had her house to function as a 'security blanket' of sorts, should anything go wrong. But now she's been thrust into the big bad world, with only the clothes on her back and a few supplies to make do with. So yeah, I could definitely understand her situation.

With Fernadette the Chikorita trotting at her heels, and other three pokémon following behind us, we slowly walked towards Goldenrod City. Fee's hand found mine, and she entwined our fingers together, both for warmth and as a cute display of affection.

It was so refreshing, watching the old happy-go-lucky Fee slowly re-emerge from the shell she'd withdrawn into over the past few months. It really was like she was turning over a fresh new leaf; one full of hopes and dreams.

"We n-not going to visit Arthur?" I ventured with a slight shiver as we passed the Day Care.

"…tomorrow" Fee puffed, short on breath already, "After we've had some food, and a rest, and a shower, y'know?"

"Ahh, yeah, makes... sense!" I gasped, realising just _how_ tired we all were. Lack of food and decent sleep had us exhausted at Goldenrod's trademark arch. And we'd only walked about 500 metres…

"C-c'mon…" Fee spluttered, clutching her chest, "We're nearly there…"

Another slow, laborious walk had us turning right at the train tracks, past Whitney's gym, and approaching a small building next to the florist's. A sign read 'Smythe Letting Agency'.

"This is the place…" Fee sighed, ready to accept her fate, "Watch the pokémon?"

"Sure thing" I replied, turning to survey them all, of whom only one was missing; Fernadette. Fee had just picked her up.

"Now, I know you're not used to me…" she muttered to her little Chikorita, "So maybe if I hold you like I used to… it'll help your memory?"

"Chikah?" Fernadette questioned, perplexed. But Fee was too distracted by the task at hand to notice. Perhaps holding Fernadette was more for comfort than 'bonding' right now?

Because this was no easy task for Fee; she was about to give her house away…

With a reserved sigh, and a Fernadette resting against her chest, she stepped up to the glass doors, which parted automatically, and walked into the building, where a sharply dressed Mr Smythe sat at a desk, writing tedious amounts of paperwork. Not wanting to attract much attention, it seemed, Fee simply dropped the keys on the table with a silent clatter. Mr Smythe looked up from his paperwork after hearing the keys crash into his mahogany desk, and he of course noticed Fee standing there, looking almost… distraught.

Trying to hide the surprise and guilt that had collided across his face, he complimented her on something – I'm guessing Fernadette in her arms – and that induced a positive reply from Fee, resulting in her bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Hey now, calm down, guys" I instructed the pokémon, who were beginning to get restless. Argus complied by lying down and whining in gentle complaint, while Luna shot to my side, expecting a stroke for good behaviour, and Ned just ignored me completely, continuing to pull tufts of grass out of the ground. Why did evolving make him so disobedient? Argus barely changed at all, and Luna grew _more_ obedient, if anything. Perhaps it was something to do with his impish nature…

Luna gratefully received the stroke between the ears, and Fee continued to converse with Mr Smythe behind the soundproof glass. She made a rising hand gesture, which must've been a reference to her books. Mr Smythe pondered for a second, evidently hesitant in his answer, and I could see Fee clench her free fist out of his sight, perhaps expecting a negative response. But guilt must have gnawed away at him for too long, because he closed his eyes with a slight grimace, as if already regretting his decision, which was a slow, curt nod, followed by a grateful smile?

Fee literally jumped for joy at this response, almost dropping poor Fernadette in the process. After indulging in what looked like a very illustrious 'thank you', she balanced an irked Fernadette on one arm, and waved vibrantly with the other, then left the building with a flourish, positively beaming.

"…so that went well?" I asked semi-rhetorically, suppressing the urge to chuckle. I already knew the answer from the look on her face – brighter than the obscured sun – but I felt as though asking was a good idea, because she was likely expecting me to.

"You can't tell?" she giggled, humouring my rhetoric, "He was originally gonna say no, I could tell, so I braced for it, but then he said 'Whatever did I do to earn such limitless trust from you, Felicity?'

He then thought for a little while before nodding, and saying 'Thank you for trusting me. I won't let you down!' He was even a little broken up about it!"

"Broken up?" I queried, "As in… upset?"

"No, no no no!" Fee cried, "Like, really happy kinda broken up! I think a lotta people mistrust him cause he's kinda shady looking, and stuff. So finding out that I trusted him with my 'treasured' books – as he put it – must've really made his day. It was soo _cool!_"

And just like that, she was back. Maybe only for a moment, but her passionate spirit had definitely been rekindled, at the very least. Perhaps it was just the 'casting off' of her burdens that did it?

Anyway. Temporary or not, Fee was currently happy. Like, over the frickin' moon happy. Now, how best to not waste it…?

"Well, that's good news" I deadpanned, acting out a ploy, "Now, can we get to the pokémon centre? I dunno 'bout you guys, but I'm damn hungry"

Luna eyed me confusedly, as if to say 'The hell? That's not like you…', and Argus simply looked shocked at my 'response', but Fee seemed to figure out where I was going here. Like she always did.

"aha… fastest way to a man's heart…" she surmised, lowering Fernadette to the ground and placing her right hand on my chest, directly above said organ, which pumped proudly.

Yeah, I think she's cottoned on…

"Oh, I dunno…" I countered playfully, pulling her closer, "You've got a pretty firm grip on it…"

"Ooh, and you seem to have a pretty firm grip on me…" she purred, indicating to how tight this hug was, "…I like that"

She then giggled playfully, and there was nothing left to do but let my little 'ploy' act itself out. My lips found hers with a soft, sensual kiss, which quite literally blurred reality. For it was unimportant right now, and it therefore was 'removed' from my other senses, allowing them to better concentrate on the nubile eighteen year old I was now 'connected' with. I _heard_ heartbeats; mine and hers, in phase. I _felt_ myself leaning slowly forwards, with her responding by leaning back, and I _felt_ her left leg gently sliding upwards and across the outside of my right. I _smelled_ only her natural musk; an invigorating perfume with an almost narcotic ambience, that nimbly niggled its way up my nostrils. I _tasted_ a taste so wonderful that it was quite simply beyond description. No corny metaphor would even come close to describing the sensual supernova that was partying on my tongue. And finally, I _saw…_ a lot of pretty colours…

Because it'd be silly having fireworks during the day. You wouldn't be able to see them, blurred reality hallucinogenic euphoria daydream or otherwise.

However, no matter how powerful these moments are, ours always seem to get interrupted by something. In this case it was:

"EWW! Mom, they're _kissing!_"

That high pitched shriek of disgust tore through our moment like a knife through a sheet of colourful crepe paper, and my eyes bolted open to see an equally stunned Fee staring back at me. We both turned slowly to my right (her left), and found the source of the problem; a young girl, around the age of eight or nine. The expression on her face was nothing short of abhorrent, and she was pointing at us like we were something to be ashamed of, and should be ostracised!

Ahh crap…

"Quiet, Holly!" A woman in her early thirties scolded her daughter, yet she failed to hide her obvious amusement at our – quite frankly, _embarrassing_ – situation.

"You'll think differently in a few years' time!" the mother continued reprimanding her daughter, mortifying her further, "Sorry about her, kids. Hope she didn't ruin too much…"

"D-don't be" I stuttered self-consciously, still in the same position we'd been 'found' in, and feeling myself redden. This was beyond awkward. Thank Arceus there weren't any lights switched on in the area...

"C'mon Mom, can we _go_ already?!" the impatient Holly groaned, tugging on her mother's cardigan.

"Ohh, fine…" she sighed, yielding, "Sorry kids, but do you know where the Bike Shop is? We've looked all over for it…"

"Just… down that road, and t-take the second right…" Fee murmured, pointing weakly to a road behind them, "Y-you… can't miss it…"

"Oh, OK, thanks!" the woman smiled, allowing Holly to tug her away, "*sigh* young love… so refreshing…"

"_Mom…_"

"Oh, alright Holly!"

And the pair walked off down the indicated street, leaving us where we were, practically an embarrassed statue. Feeling like we should now both crash to the ground, anime style, I struggled to maintain my balance whilst helping Fee restore hers.

"Oh man…" she blushed, a pink tinge forming amidst her cheeks, which was darkened to a faint purplish colour, courtesy of her bruises, "little kids have the _worst_ timing…"

"Tell me about it…" I muttered, still reeling from the incident. I turned to consult the pokémon, only to find all four of them asleep!

Argus has splayed himself across the ground like a faux Beartic, whilst Luna was resting her head comfortably on the small of Argus' back, all four legs stretched out in front of her, between which Fernadette nestled, using Luna's stomach as a cushion and her leaf as a makeshift bedsheet. I've got a feeling that the two girls are gonna get along pretty well, and bridge the gap between Fernadette and Argus, as he and Luna were so close.

And then there was Ned.

Fast asleep in a sitting position, he was facing the wall of Mr Smythe's agency like an upset toddler, partially buried in the ground, and not a blade of grass stood within half a metre of him. It was almost comical, the extreme lengths he would go to just to be unsociable. Good thing he didn't start wreaking havoc on the flower garden next door. That would've been… difficult.

But the state of these four pokémon made me realise one thing;

"H-how long were we… kissing?" I stammered. Quite a substantial length of time must've passed for even the patient Luna to fall asleep. But then again, I guess we _are_ all tired…

"Maybe we should be somewhere a little more… private next time" Fee suggested with a small giggle, hooking her arm around mine as a signal to get moving again, "That way we might get a little further without any… interruptions, heh"

"Ooh, that sounds like a good idea…" I chuckled with suppressed enthusiasm, "C'mon guys! Let's get going!"

Luna and Argus both sprang awake instantly, thanks to their sharp hearing, while Fernadette took a couple of nose bumps from Luna to rouse. Ned didn't budge at all.

Lazy bugger…

"Hey Ned, you want feeding or not?" I called impatiently, greeting a slightly drowsy Luna with an appreciated stroke across her back.

The mention of 'feeding' snapped Ned from his slumber almost immediately. That did the trick. Food was one of very few things that actually got Ned to behave…

As anticipated, he waddled up to me, expecting to be fed here and now. But he was sorely disappointed when I said, "OK everyone. To the poke centre!"

With a crestfallen hiss, Ned stomped behind us, which comprised of Fee and I in the centre, with Fernadette balanced on Fee's left arm, and Luna and Argus on the outside. Fee made the effort to give Argus some overdue attention before we took off, to reassure him that he hadn't been forgotten. I'm sure he was at least a little jealous of Fernadette, resting lazily against her chest. After all, that used to be _his_ place…

Entering the poke centre was like being pushed into a giant, freshly cooked spongecake. Everything was so light, warm and fluffy, and even smelt suspiciously of cinnamon.

"Ohh, so _warm_!" Fee cried ecstatically, ironically shivering from the sudden temperature change, "You guys wait here" she instructed, "I'll do the talking, OK?"

"Sure thing…" I mumbled, seizing my chance and dumping my bag on the ground, before collapsing into the sumptuous looking sofa behind me. My aching bones hadn't felt anything this comfortable in _weeks_, and I could literally feel them actually cracking back into place as the sofa's… squishiness caressed my skeletally deprived frame. It didn't take long for Luna and Argus to also join me on the couch, with even Ned expressing an interest in it. Wow, now there's a rarity…

Our entrance didn't go unnoticed, however.

"Felicity?" the poke centre nurse queried, looking both surprised and wary at the same time, "Oh gosh, you guys look terrible…"

"Y-yeah, it's been a tough couple of months…" Fee stammered, batting that accidental – yet still confidence crushing – insult away with a swish of her long, long hair, as if it were a niggling parasite that was tugging onto said hair. "Anyway!" she continued, once again inspired, "We'd like a room for the night, please!"

"You know I can't serve you, Felicity…" the nurse sighed, her voice dripping with sympathy, "You guys _live_ here as residents, so I'm afraid I'll have to-"

"Not anymore!" Fee interjected strategically, "We're here as trainers now!"

Digging into her bag, she fumbled around blindly for a short while, subsequently extracting our trainer's licenses and offering them to the nurse for inspection. I still had no idea why they were different colours…

"I-I don't know…" the nurse hesitated, "How can I be sure you're not just trying to take advantage of our hospitality?"

"Aww, c'mon, why would I do that?" Fee countered, an expertly disguised twinge of resent tarnishing the usually mellifluous flow of her voice, "If I was gonna do that, I would've _months_ ago!"

"So why today?" The nurse requested, with a slight reduction to her cynicism, most likely due to being a little intimidated by an irked Fee.

Trust me, you don't wanna get on the wrong side of her. Scary would be an understatement…

"Because we got evicted from our home this morning…" Fee deflated, almost theatrically, "Seriously! Ring Mr Smythe if you don't believe me!"

The nurse eyed Fee carefully, as if scanning her resolve, to try and see whether or not she was bluffing. You and I both knew that she wasn't, but how trusting was this poke centre nurse going to be?

"…one night?" she eventually asked, grimacing as she did so.

"Yup" Fee replied simply, "I promise"

"…Alright" the nurse slowly conceded, "Just this once, I'll bend the rules. You guys don't need any more suffering…"

"Oh! Yay!" Fee cried, jumping about three feet into the air, then springing forwards and hugging the nurse with her free arm, "Thank you so much! We'll be outta here tomorrow morning, you can count on it!"

"Ohh, don't be thanking me…" the nurse mumbled earnestly, "I shouldn't have been so tough on you guys. If only it weren't for that new law…"

"New law?" Fee queried, bemused, "What new law?"

"It was passed about a month ago" The nurse answered hesitantly, "They've tightened the requirements for trainers staying at poke centres, in an effort to save money. They used to be available to any trainer, and you could stay for up to a week for free, but now you can only stay for up to four days, you have to _prove_ that you're a trainer, and it has to be your only viable option…"

"Whoa, that's stupid…" Fee concurred, shaking her head with disdain, "Wait… so if you have _camping gear_, you're not allowed to use the poke centres?"

"Yeah…" the nurse sighed dejectedly, "The thought of little kids being forced to camp out in this horrible weather… i-it makes me sick…"

I nervously shuffled my feet to the right, in an attempt to better hide _our_ camping gear, because there was no way we'd last long on our journey without the wonders of the poke centre…

"And that's why I was so strict with you earlier, Felicity…" the nurse sighed reservedly, "They forced these rules on us against our wishes. I-I'm so sorry!"

"Aww, don't be!" Fee cried, readying to hug the nurse again, "You've helped us a lot by just letting us stay here tonight. Don't you go apologising!"

"…really?" the nurse mumbled timidly, before her memory was suddenly spurred, "O-oh yes! Your room!"

She danced over towards the wall, where she grabbed one of many keys from its hook and handed it to Fee. "I'm afraid we only have single beds, sorry…" she apologised once again, attentively realising that we would've probably preferred a double.

"That's… not a catastrophe" Fee surmised, looking back over to me and registering the faintest look of disappointment tug at the corners of my mouth, "Single beds are better than a broken couch, heh…"

"Oh my…" the nurse exclaimed softly, "You guys _did _have it rough…"

"Yeah, it was no picnic" Fee chuckled meekly, "But thanks again! You really helped!"

"Ohh, no problem!" the nurse giggled with self-fulfilment, before happily disappearing into the back room to retrieve a batch of freshly healed poke balls.

"C'mon Blake!" Fee cried, stirring me from my semi conscious daze on the epic couch of awesome. With great reluctance, I nudged the three pokémon who had also 'joined' me on the couch to move, before peeling myself away from it and its awesomeness, staggered back to my feet, and reattached my anchor of a bag to my shoulders, before involuntarily stomping along the painfully hard lino floor of the poke centre towards an increasingly exasperated Fee; Argus, Ned and Luna in tow.

"…you gotta try that couch" I sighed, pointing at it lovingly, "It's amazing…"

"Haha, seems to…" Fee rolled her eyes, pulling me into a hug with her free hand. It didn't take long to decide that food was the most important thing on our list of priorities, so after taking two minutes to dump our bags in the room we'd rented for the night, all six of us descended back downstairs to the kitchen, with our minds eager and stomachs rumbling.

Lunch was a rather embarrassing affair, to say the least. Saying we were 'hungry' would be putting it lightly; in the same way that the sinking of The Titanic could've been called a 'minor incident'

In short, we were starving. Even polite and patient Luna would scarcely wait for her bowl of pellets to touch the ground, burying her face in it the moment my hand was clear. And she was the _best_ out of them. Argus nearly bowled Fee and Fernadette over in the desperate rush to fill himself up, whilst Ned… he literally took matters into his own hands, by simply grabbing of full bag of pellets, tearing it open, and devouring every last morsel inside of it. And all of this happened within thirty seconds…

"Oh man…" Fee murmured, mortified, "The poor things…"

"Uhh, sorry guys" I apologised to the handful of other trainers who had had their lunch interrupted, "They're just… hungry"

The unwanted attention slowly ebbed away, and we decided it was time to feed ourselves.

"Could you get the food, please?" Fee asked me, "I need to feed Fernadette. Gonna try it by hand, y'know?"

"Ahh, sure thing" I replied, understanding. Fee needed to once again 'bond' with her Chikorita, and feeding by hand was one of the most efficient ways to do this, as Fee had once taught me. Ideally, I would've attempted this with Ned, but something tells me I'd lose a few fingers if I did…

Leaving Fee behind for a moment, I grabbed two bowls of what was on offer for lunch; mac 'n' cheese. Cheap and cheerful, huh?

I guess the poke centres were doing everything they could to minimise costs…

"Mac 'n' cheese good with you?" I asked, returning with two heaped bowls of the stuff, "It's, like, the only thing available"

"All food's good food right now, heh" Fee chuckled meekly, trying in vain to persuade Fernadette into eating the small handful of pellets she had offered, "Come on, girl… you know you want them…"

But an extremely obstinate Fernadette was simply refusing to accept the 'peace offering', shifting her head out of the way with every attempt Fee made to feed her.

"Chik chikah!" Fernadette squeaked in complaint, clearly uncomfortable with this method of feeding.

"…OK, I give" Fee sighed, releasing her grip on Fernadette and allowing her to hop down onto the ground, "Mind grabbing another bowl, Blake?"

"Sure thing" I replied, stepping over an excited Fernadette to fetch another bowl from the pile of clean ones next to the available foods. I passed it to Fee, who emptied her handful of pellets into it, and reservedly offered the bowl to Fernadette, who showed little hesitation in practically diving into the bowl the instant it touched the ground.

"Well, at least she's eating…" Fee sighed, shaking her hand to rid it of dust from the pellets before half-heartedly poking at her mac 'n' cheese with a fork, "This any good?"

"Umm…" I hesitated, unsure. The macaroni was a little undercooked, as if it were rushed out of the door, and the cheese sauce had both the consistency and texture of glue, but the taste of it wasn't completely atrocious…

"I've… had worse" I answered as honestly as I could, shovelling a couple more forkfuls into my mouth. This was very sub-par in comparison to the poke centre food I'd gotten used to, but I guess, with a reduced budget, they were doing their level best. Not to mentioned that it was also filling a much needed hole in my stomach.

So in that aspect, I wasn't complaining.

"It's not too bad?" Fee murmured earnestly, emptying he bowl with much less gusto than you'd expect from someone who's barely eaten a thing in the past few days.

"Better than stale bread, that's for sure" I laughed gently, scooping up all the bowls and placing them on the counter next to the mounting pile of dirty dishes.

"I'll say!" I could hear Fee agreeing from behind me. A chair squeaked to indicate her standing up, and she continued with "Man it feels good to have food inside of you!" before letting out an uncharacteristic belch, followed by an embarrassed giggle, "…oops!"

"Well, that's food sorted" I murmured, looking to the four satisfied pokémon, all of whom were still very much awake. Ned was being unsociable, as always, whilst Fernadette was spinning her leaf around to entertain herself, Luna was watching avidly, and Argus was trying his best _not_ to be entertained by Fernadette's adorable performance. Looks as though there's still _quite_ a rift between those two…

"C'mon guys!" I called to them all, sliding my hand into Fee's and gesturing to the door with my other, "Let's get moving!"

Amazingly, all four pokémon actually complied, with even Ned standing up and moodily stomping towards us. Maybe it was his way of showing gratitude for being fed?

"Can we trust them in the room?" Fee queried, looking mostly to Ned, who was only too happy to stare right back at her. Rather evilly, I might add.

"It's just Ned that I'm worried about…" I mumbled, beckoning them all to follow us through the flappy doors and up the stairs once again.

"Now, Ned" I questioned my Krokorok outside the room, "D'you think you can behave a while in here while we do stuff?"

Ned's response was folding his arms and looking at me sourly. Clearly destruction and mayhem were high on his priorities list.

"OK, let's try a different tactic…" I sighed, rolling my eyes and grabbing his poke ball from my belt, "You either behave or go back in your ball. Got it?"

Ned eyed the capsule cautiously, knowing all too well that I wasn't bluffing, thanks to the previous times he had tried my patience. With great reluctance, he slowly unfolded his arms, and nodded begrudgingly.

"Great!" I laughed nervously, unsure whether or not he was attempting to deceive me, or if he _actually_ meant what his actions implied. So I decided that it couldn't hurt to have backup, "Luna, keep an eye on Ned for me?"

Ned shot Luna a disdained look, and Luna responded with a glare that could've turned him to stone, before her expression softened, and she mewed an elated "Bree!" to simultaneously indicate both assurance and affection.

"Atta girl" I remarked, stroking her silky fur gratefully, "We won't be too long, I promise!"

After hesitantly locking the door, and leaving all four pokémon in the room, separate from us, a thought suddenly hit me like a bolt of lightning; we were alone…

"H-hey…" I murmured, realising our newfound solitude, "We're… alone?"

"Heh, you took your time noticing" Fee sighed, happily ruffling my hair, "So… what've you got in mind?"

"I reckon just a nice walk together?" I suggested, sliding my hand into hers, "We've got a little time, thanks to Luna keeping control of-"

But a loud smashing in the room behind us shattered my hopes of Luna maintaining sanity for too long.

"Breee…" she growled threateningly, and a retaliatory hiss gave me some pretty strong evidence as to who was responsible.

"…maybe not" I sighed, "Looks like we'll have to stick to the important stuff. You get the first shower, and I'll watch them?"

"Orrr you could put Ned in his poke ball, and we could…" Fee hinted, with a subtle biting of her lip, "…share?"

"Heheheheh…" I chuckled deeply, "Don't think we'll come out much cleaner…"

"But it saves water?" Fee chimed, with mock earnest. As much as I appreciated this wonderful proposition, I knew it wasn't a good idea because we were in a public place, and well…

"Don't think the poke centre nurses and people are gonna like that…" I sighed, "Sorry…"

"N'aww, it's OK…" Fee chuckled, kissing me softly on the cheek, "I guess it is better safe than sorry, huh? We don't wanna get thrown out for breaking the rules or something…"

"I… guess so" I reluctantly conceded, offering up another quick hug before she departed off to the showers, and I begrudgingly re-entered the room, where Luna was baring her teeth angrily at a stubborn Ned, Fernadette was taking cover underneath one of the pillows on the bed, Argus appeared to be trying his best to calm the situation down, and the ground was strewn with pieces of the very nice vase that was perched on the dresser table between the two beds. Dammit…

"Alright guys…" I sighed, alerting them all to my presence, which had somehow gone unnoticed, "…what happened?"

Both Argus and Luna turned to face me, making noises that sounded as though they were trying to explain. Ned, however, just stood there with his arms crossed, a mixture of guilt and sullenness marring his face. He knew he'd done wrong, and was about to face consequences for it. So why did he do it if he knew he was going to be punished? Was this some cry for attention?

Luna and Argus' continued noises seemed to be implicating Ned, so I took the hint, and gently ushered them out of the way so that I could approach the surly Krokorok.

"C'mon, Ned…" I scolded him lightly, "You've gotta stop breaking stuff. If you want my attention, just ask for it, OK?"

Ned hissed dismissively, folded his arms tighter still, and turned away. Not the best of responses…

"Ned..." I spoke, a little more imperiously this time, to make sure that he was listening. "You've been acting strange for a few weeks now… i-is something wrong? Something you're trying to tell me?"

Ned looked back towards me out of the corner of his beady little eye, and for just a second, I could've sworn I saw...

But my thought train was derailed by the door handle twisting and opening gently, revealing a Fee wearing a warm looking gown, and an even warmer smile. Her hair had draped itself around her shoulders, glistening in the light behind her like the sleekest of velvet, and her eyes were once again lit up with joviality. It was almost as though that shower had 'cleansed' her of all the strife and unhappiness she'd suffered recently…

"Whew! Those showers are amazing!" she piped up, before Argus bombarded her, evidently 'telling' on Ned for breaking the vase, with distinctive apologetic whimpers and grunts.

"Aww, don't worry Argy…" she cooed, sitting down on the right hand bed and hugging her guilt ridden Houndoom, "It wasn't your fault…"

Ned looked sourly back at her after she'd said this, and Fee continued with "Any idea why, Blake?"

"Not sure…" I replied honestly, still trying to decipher his behaviour, with little success, "I think it's some kinda cry for attention, but I can't really tell…"

"Where's a pokémon whisperer when you need one, huh?" Fee giggled softly, still reassuring Argus, who was resting his head on her lap, "Well, I can watch him while you get a shower?"

"Yeah, maybe you'll have more luck than me…" I murmured, hearing the resignation setting in my voice "He knew he was in the wrong, yet he did it anyway. So… strange"

I decided to leave it at that, and left the room, catching a glimpse of Fee coaxing an unwilling Fernadette out from behind her 'safety pillow' before closing the door and heading off to the showers.

Another sense of De Ja Vu washed over me as I removed my dirty clothing, dumped it into the laundry basket, and played around with the little handles and knobs to get the water temperature and pressure just right, and…

Fee wasn't kidding.

The shower's water was pressured just powerfully enough to massage the aching muscles in my upper back, without feeling like liquid knives slashing their way into my skin, whilst the temperature was hot enough to redden the skin, but not too hot, so that it might scald or inflict pain. In short; pretty much perfect.

Once again, I watched the collected dirt escape down the drain, before my thought train's engines could fire up once again;

'I've really gotta figure out why Ned's acting so strange lately'

'It can't be jealousy, can it? I treat him just the same as Luna… right?'

'Hang on… I neglect him when it comes to important stuff. Maybe he's starting to lose trust in me…'

'A few battles should fix that. He needs to know that I still care for him just as much as I do for Luna'

And for once, my thought train actually reached a station. The steam dissipated, the engine cooled…

And I stepped out of the shower. Cool metaphor, huh?

After getting dried and finding a convenient gown to wear (thankfully it was a decent colour; blue), I brushed my teeth, and then headed back to the room, which was bathed in an amazingly calm ambience. Fee was leaning against the same bed as before, with one of her two remaining books propped open against her knees, and giggling at it gently. Argus was leaning against her shoulder, Fernadette on the opposite shoulder, Luna was peering around Fee's head from the side, and even Ned looked somewhat interested at whatever she was reading. He was casting a wary glance towards the rest of them every now and again, almost as if he feared being caught in the act of 'socialising'.

How did she do it…?

"…wow" I mumbled, stunned, "It's so quiet in here"

"That's the wonders of a good book for you" Fee soothed in her 'reading' voice, slowly closing her novel and stowing it back in her bag, "Pokémon are like small children in a way. Read to them, and they just calm right down…"

"…that's amazing" I sighed, deeply impressed at her amazing innovation, "I mean, even Ned looks interested" I added, kneeling down beside Fee to stroke a tired looking Luna, "So, what're we gonna do tomorrow?"

"No idea" Fee announced in a bizarrely chipper fashion, planting a gentle kiss on my cheek, "We'll cross that bridge as we come to it, huh?"

"Good point" I agreed, returning the kiss properly, indicating to her that I'd 'learned', "Whatever happens, it can happen tomorrow. We all need the sleep…"

"Amen to that" Fee concurred, standing up and stretching, "Well, I'll seeya in the morning!"

I stood up as well, and after a quick hug, Fee slipped into her bed, and I got the light before sliding into mine, where Luna was already awaiting my arrival. She sprawled herself across my chest at the first opportunity, and Ned chose to lie across the edge of the bed. Better than nothing, I guess…

With the calmness of night setting in, I could hear the sound of the gentle wind rustling outside, and Fee slowly drifting off in the other bed. Fernadette on one side of her, under her arm, and Argus on the other, sprawled out in a comically uncomfortable looking mass of fur. At peace at last?

Excited for what potentially lay in wait for us come tomorrow, it didn't take long for the bed's soft warmth to lull me into a relaxing slumber as well…

* * *

**Author's Note: Whew! This chapter was a lot longer and more drawn out than I originally intended! D:**

**Did its length and drawn out…ness bore you guys? Or did I keep it interesting enough?**

**Sorry if it's the former. I plan to make up for that with a few happy filler scenes over the next couple of chapters.**

**Also a bit curious as to whether or not I was over the top with the fluff in the middle of the chapter. Feedback on that would be greatly appreciated**

**Coming up next; two new arrivals over two chapters. :3**


	6. A Rekindled Spirit

**A Rekindled Spirit**

I woke to a dull, misty winter morning, greeted by the gentle swivelling noise of Fee in front of me. She was sat on the spindly chair in front of the room's central dresser table, which sported a mirror. Today she was wearing jeans of a stonewashed off white colour, and a warm looking woollen jersey – instead of her favourite green hoodie – that looked as though it had been hand knitted.

She had enticed her hair back into a mighty ponytail, which still found its way all the way down to her lower back. I was too busy staring in awe at it to notice her… applying makeup?

"Morning sleepyhead!" Fee giggled happily, dusting the powder over her cheeks with what I could only describe as 'rusty expertise'. "Don't worry, it's just 'til the bruises go away" she added with a soothing reassurance, evidently expecting me to disapprove.

"No no, it's not that…" I stammered, coaxing a drowsy Luna off of my chest and sitting up, "It's…" I tried to answer, but trailed off. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what it was that stunned me here. The giggling, the ponytail, the waking up earlier than I… It's like starting on this trip has restored her confidence. Even the makeup that she was trying her best to apply evenly told me one thing;

She was back.

"C'mon you!" she laughed, finishing with her makeup attempt and sitting across my lap with an obvious sense of playfulness, "It's breakfast time downstairs. Hungry?"

"Sounds pretty good right now…" I yawned, stretching my arms around her and playing with that absurdly long ponytail.

"Heehee, you like it huh?" she giggled, swishing said ponytail for dramatic effect, "Well that's good news. I was thinking of keeping it like this for a while…"

"No complaints there" I chuckled, resting my head on her shoulder in loving embrace, "So, what's for breakfast?"

"Not a clue" Fee hummed softly next to me, "But all food's good food right now, huh?"

"I'll say" I concurred, with my stomach adding its own little agreement, in the form of a hungry growl.

"Carry mee…" Fee giggled, wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Heh, wish I could…" I laughed, before looking down towards my lower half, which was currently wearing only bed sheets, "But I don't think they'd appreciate me coming downstairs with just this on…"

"Well, let's get you dressed, then!" she giggled once again, lifting herself off of me and dragging me from the sheets.

"Whoa!" I cried, hitting the ground with an uncomfortable thud. All the while, the three awake pokémon (Ned was being lazy, as usual) were just staring at us, their faces marred with a strange mixture of confusion and what could've passed for amusement.

"Aw c'mon…" Fee sighed, straining to lift me from under the arms, "It's more fun if you play along!"

"Ahh, fine…" I conceded with a short chuckle, standing up and submitting to her will. After a rather clumsy period of her 'helping' me get dressed, she stood back to admire her handiwork.

"Blue hooded jacket, good, black pants, good…" she mused, placing her thumbs and forefingers together at alternate angles so that they resembled a mock camera frame, "and a satirical t-shirt to boot. You like?"

"Hell yeah. Feels soo good to be back in fresh clothes again" I sighed happily, not bothering to ask _how_ she'd gotten all of our dirty clothes so clean so quickly, "Now, where were we?"

"You were carrying me down to breakfast!" Fee chipped in, making sure to enunciate the 'carrying' so that I wouldn't forget. As if I could…

And next thing I knew, she'd jumped upon me, hooking her arms around my neck for support and swinging her body around from the momentum. I had just enough time to slot my arms beneath her back and legs before gravity could take its toll, and then steadied myself, clumsily staggering off towards the door.

"C'mon everyone!" Fee called, strangely excited, "Breakfast time!"

Ned snapped out of his slumber instantly upon hearing 'breakfast', practically charging after us through the door, whereas Argus strolled through second, heeding his master's words, and Luna politely made sure Fernadette was on her way before taking up the rear.

"You sure about leaving the door open?" I queried, noticing that neither of us were really in a position to shut it.

"There's nothing in there worth stealing, heh" Fee laughed, kicking her feet out gleefully, "'Sides, there's security cameras in the hallways" she added, gesturing to one by nodding at it as we passed by.

"Okeydokey then!" I puffed, ready to tackle the stairs, "Careful now…"

"Bree?" Luna mewed in the background, seeming to ask if she could help in some way. She ran ahead of us, and stood on the step in front, to serve as a 'guide' if you will. For there was a Fee blocking my field of view.

"Atta girl, Luna…" I grunted, heaving our combined weight down the steps, one at a time.

"Oh, wait up, wait a sec Blake!" Fee called, forcing me to halt in the middle of the stairs. I realised where she was looking, and awkwardly spun around to notice Fernadette having some trouble with the stairs.

"Chiiik…" she squeaked, trying her best to negotiate her way down a stair by means of stretching, but due to her tiny size, each stair was practically the same size as her, and thus, she'd made no progress.

"Chikah?!" she cried, losing her balance and toppling over the stair!

"Oh no!" Fee gasped, reaching out to try and grab her minuscule Chikorita before she could injure herself any further. But just as her hand neared:

"Hown!"

Argus dove into the path, quick as a flash, and stopped Fernadette from falling?!

"Oh!" Fee gasped again, astonished, "Oh, Argy, you're such a good boy, helping Fernadette like that!"

Ned rolled his eyes at Argus and walked past, stomping towards Luna, while Argus wagged his forked tail contentedly, assisting Fernadette in getting back to her feet with a nose bump.

Wow. That was unexpected. Was Argus being nice to Fernadette out of respect for Fee? Or was he actually starting to like her?

"Reeh! Chika!" Fernadette squeaked gratefully to Argus, and Fee gave him an appreciative stroke with her outstretched hand before scooping Fernadette up in it and holding said Chikorita to her chest. As if I didn't have enough to carry, heh…

"So sorry girl…" Fee cooed to Fernadette, in an almost babying sort of voice, "I didn't think there, did I…?"

"OK, and we're ready to go again!" Fee then 'announced' all of a sudden, gesturing to the remainder of the stairs, "C'mon Blake, think of the food! Hyah!"

"I'm getting there, don't worry" I reassured her, ignoring her little reference to me being her 'mode of transport' and rolling my eyes, all the while resisting the urge to chuckle. Step by step, we slowly trudged downstairs, with Ned stomping out front, Luna keeping an eye on him and us simultaneously, Fernadette bundled up in Fee's free arm, and Argus strolling behind us, perhaps to make sure that his master doesn't get hurt on this 'dangerous' expedition of hers…

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The stairs fell one at a time, groaning under the stomp of my heavy, clumsily placed feet. Who would've thought simply walking down the stairs would be so much toil?

Fee, on the other hand, was ecstatic, full of a manic energy that seemed to have arisen overnight. Cradling Fernadette against her chest with one arm, and holding onto me with the other, she seemed more than just _slightly_ contented with the current situation, despite it mainly involving me in rather a lot of pain, descending this torturously long set of stairs!

"O…K!" I gasped, finally hitting flat ground at the bottom, "W-wasn't that _fun?_"

"Hell yeah!" Fee giggled, practically jumping out of my arms with an exuberant, full bodied swing, and dashing towards the main poke centre door, with a shocked Fernadette clinging on for dear life in her arms.

"Man, I haven't felt like this in _ages!"_ Fee squealed enthusiastically at the door, showing just enough patience to wait for everyone else to catch up, "It's like… like someone's turned the clock back, and… and I'm twelve again, starting my pokémon journey for the first time!"

"Good to hear" I half panted, half chuckled, catching up with both her and my breathing, "So, let's get some breakfast, huh?"

"Great idea!" Fee cried, dashing through the door and the main poke centre itself with gusto, and then into the cafeteria section of the building. All in less than ten seconds.

"Women…" I sighed, rolling my eyes with mild exasperation as an equally bemused Luna joined up with me from behind, Ned and Argus in tow. Affectionately stroking my faithful Umbreon (who, ironically, was also female), I added "Wish I could know what was going on in their minds sometimes..."

Unsurprisingly, Breakfast was just as energetic an affair. Fee had already piled four bowls with pokémon food, and a further two with porridge for the pair of us. I dismissed my slight lament for the bacon and eggs I'd grown used to at breakfast times in the poke centre, accepting the fact that porridge was a lot more cost efficient, not to mention great for warming you up on a cold winter morning such as this. But Fee had taken delight in the one advantage porridge had over bacon and eggs; being able to customise it.

"Therrre we go!" she giggled, doodling a crude smiley face atop one mound of porridge with syrup, and burying the spoon in its centre to serve as a nose, "Here's yours, Blake!"

She then pushed the bowl into my hands, and started on her next 'masterpiece', while I stared incredulously at the one she'd given me with stifled laughter. A huge, meandering, almost dopey looking smile adorned the lower half of the mound, with the spoon embedded a few inches into the centre of it, and crosses serving as makeshift eyes. She'd also attempted a tongue, but that didn't go too well. The face looked strangely familiar…

"What's wrong?" Fee asked, floating past me towards the table, where all four pokémon were eagerly emptying their bowls of pellets, "Don't like syrup? We can swap if you'd prefer?"

"No no, not that…" I mumbled, noticing that she'd piled several blobs of jam onto hers, "Just… admiring it, heh"

"Ooh, that's good news!" Fee chirped, sitting down and dipping her spoon into the porridge, making sure she got a blob of jam on top of it, "Glad you liked him!"

"He's… original, that's for sure" I chuckled, wondering how on _earth_ a bowl of porridge with a smiley face made of syrup could be male, "So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, we're gonna go visit Arthur first, then head northwards, towards Ecruteak" Fee explained, gulping down a mouthful of porridge and continuing, "If we push, we should make it before nightfall, then we won't have to worry about camping out in the cold"

"Ahh, good thinking" I concurred, also spooning up porridge, "Why Ecruteak?"

"Nearest city" Fee announced bluntly, "We can rest up there for a few days, and plan our next move, or something? I was thinking we could catch a ferry at Olivine, maybe?"

"Sounds good to me" I nodded, with a few more spoonfuls going down, "But wait, wouldn't a ferry trip be really expensive? How're we gonna afford tickets?"

"Ahh, we'll find some way" Fee chuckled, "It's the way of the trainer; cross bridges as they come to you. If the bridge isn't built yet, you build it yourself! If you can't build it, you fall in the mud. But even if you have to wade through the mud, you still make it across! Cause trainers don't give up! Cross ALL the bridges!"

Fee's mini speech had her rising up from her seat and wielding her spoon in the air like a sword. Needless to say, it attracted a fair amount of attention.

The rest of the room had gone deathly quiet, with the dozen or so other people staring at her like she'd gone slightly mad. But one trainer had taken it upon himself to react in a different manner;

Clapping?

The small, shy looking boy gingerly clapped his hands together in frail ovation, looking more and more self-conscious by the minute. He was about to give up and sit back down when the girl opposite him also joined in, and next thing we knew, the little audience had broken out into a delicate smattering of applause!

"Oh… oh wow…" Fee murmured, blushing gently and sitting back in her seat, her face blending into an uncomfortable looking mix of both pride and embarrassment, having seemingly inspired several complete strangers.

"S-so… find a way to get what you need?" I surmised, feeling the atmosphere in the room slowly dissolve back into normality.

"Yeah… pretty much!" Fee tittered nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Man, I overdid it there, huh?"

"Maybe a _little_…" I teased, reaching across and ruffling her hair playfully, "But hey, they seemed to like it?"

"Yeah, I… I guess so…" Fee mumbled, her nerves gently fading away, "And that's all that matters, really!"

With another sudden burst of energy, she quickly gulped down the remainder of her tepid porridge, and cleaned up all the empty bowls, placing them next to the ominously tall pile of dirty ones, "C'mon, there's something I wanna try!"

And she then burst back out of the cafeteria, practically obliging me to chase after her, with all four pokémon in tow.

Walking back through the flappy doors, I turned to find her standing next to one of the videophone booths, looking pensive.

"I wonder if he's still free…" she murmured, wringing her hands together anxiously.

"If who's free?" I asked, confused. She couldn't be calling Arthur. The guy barely knew how to use an ordinary phone, didn't even _have_ one of these modern videophones, and was only a few minutes' walk away. Who else could it be…?

"Ehh, one way to find out!" she shrugged, before picking up the receiver and dialling in a number that she seemingly knew off by heart. A few moments of waiting and dial-tone saw her smile flicker slightly, but it returned with a vengeance shortly afterwards, escalating into a triumphant squeal of delight when it began ringing!

"H-hello?" A familiar, nasal voice uttered on the other side of the phone, "Elm research laboratory, how may I help-"

"Professor Elm!" Fee cried, almost dropping the phone, "It's Felicity! How've you been!?"

"Feli-" I heard him respond, followed by a sharp gasp, "Felicity! My gosh, it's been years!"

"I know, right?!" Fee yelled into the phone, "Switch to video, OK? I've got a surprise for you!"

"Uhh… sure thing!" the voice hesitated, and Fee put the receiver back down before the screen flashed on, revealing an excited looking Professor Elm!

"Hey there!" Fee giggled, waving a little _too_ excitedly, "Bet you never thought you'd see me again, huh?"

"Heh, I sure didn't, Felicity" Elm admitted, scratching the back of his head nervously, "I'd thought after all the… complications you went through, you'd just given up on the idea of pokémon training. But it looks like I was wrong! You even brought your friend along, too! Blake, was it?"

"Uhh, yup" I mumbled, mustering a weak chuckle, "That's me. Hi Professor. Long time no see"

"Ahah, those 'complications' are partly why I'm talking to you, Professor!" Fee giggled, "Wait just a sec…"

And Fee knelt down to ground level, searching for Fernadette amongst the aisles of phone booths.

"There you are!" she exclaimed, picking up her Chikorita from the sticky mess she was cleaning, and bringing her into view of the videophone, "Look who I've got, Professor?!"

"Oh gosh!" Elm gasped, evidently stunned, "How on Earth did you get your old Chikorita back?!"

"Weirdly enough, I got her poke ball in the mail, just yesterday!" Fee cried, hugging Fernadette tight, "Funny how things come full circle, huh?"

"I'll say" Elm remarked, beaming, "So, you guys are going off on your training journey now, huh?"

"Yup!" Fee chimed, gently placing Fernadette down once again, who promptly returned to the sticky patch so she could continue to clean it.

"Any idea where we should go?" Fee asked Elm, and obvious air of enthusiasm wafting through her voice.

"Go wherever your heart takes you, Felicity" Elm replied wisely, "That's all I can say, really. If you forge your own path in life, you won't regret it, no matter what happens. My only advice would be to get out of Johto. Somewhere where there isn't a recession…"

"Ahh, good idea" Fee mused, "Well, looks like we are heading for Olivine and catching a ferry after all, then! Thanks for your help, professor!"

"Any time, Felicity!" Elm called back, "And it was nice seeing you again after so many years!"

"Ahah, you too!" Fee giggled, before madly waving goodbye and hanging up on the videophone.

"Whoa, you know him a lot better than I thought you did" I mumbled quietly, watching the screen switch off with a short whooshing noise.

"Ohh, Professor Elm was one of the people who helped me out when I lost Fernadette…" she explained, finding her Chikorita once again and bringing her into a hug, "he even put in a good word with Arthur, which made it easier for me to get my job at the Day Care!"

"Wow" I replied simply, "That's pretty cool…"

"And speaking of Arthur, we should go see him now, before we get going!" Fee announced, whistling to a patient Argus, who diligently followed after her towards the poke centre's exit.

"Thank you sooo much for your help!" she gushed to the attending poke centre nurse, who predictably went sheepish and tried to deny the fact.

"Ohh, no need to thank us…" the nurse mumbled bashfully, "It's our duty to assist trainers on the road. No silly rule is ever gonna change that…"

"Well, I'm thanking you anyways!" Fee giggled playfully, "We'd be screwed if it weren't for you guys!"

The nurse opened her mouth to politely object, I assumed, but anything she had to say would've fallen on deaf ears, because Fee had rushed out of the poke centre door in a whirl of black velvet!

Meanwhile, I just stood there, mouth slightly ajar, and with Luna and Ned at my side, watching Argus chase worriedly after his master. Ned raised one eyebrow in clear disdain, and followed after Argus, whereas Luna looked just as confused as I, being unused to seeing Fee like this. 'Full of life' was quite the understatement…

"C'mon Luna" I beckoned to her gently, "Let's go find her, huh?"

After a short detour where I gathered our stuff from the room, we too exited through the poke centre's sliding doors, where my first surprise was finding Ned just outside of them.

"…Ned?" I hesitated, looking at the Krokorok with awe, "You were waiting for us?"

Ned snorted indifferently, and then glanced to his left, where I followed his gaze to find my second surprise; a calm, collected Fee?

She was sprawled out lazily on a bench about twenty metres away from us, gently patting Argus on the head, who was lying on the bench next to her and resting against her thigh, whilst Fernadette had somehow found her way into the tall oak tree behind them, and seemed to be willing its hibernating fruits to grow, but not having much luck, due to the obvious seasonal problems. Had her manic energy finally run out? Or was she just bored and waiting for us?

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Ned" I mumbled nervously to him, moving to pat him on the head as a genuine means of thanks. But his eyes flashed the moment my hand drew near, and he hissed at it furiously, ready to take evasive action if necessary.

"Gah, maybe not…" I groaned, abandoning the attempt to thank Ned, and instead turning my attention towards Fee on the bench, "Hey there. Are you… OK?"

"Ohh, there you are!" she called, waving enthusiastically with her other hand, "I've been waiting forever…"

Nope. The energy was still there.

"I… went to get our stuff" I explained, lifting her bag from my shoulder and handing it to her, "Leaving without it seemed like a bad idea, heh…"

"Ohh, right!" Fee exclaimed, rising to her feet once again, "I'd almost forgotten about our things!"

"Almost?" I teased, pulling her into a hug, "Are you sure…"

"Yup!" Fee humoured me, nuzzling her head against my shoulder, "I was gonna grab it all on the way back north. Ah well, makes no difference now. C'mon Ferny, let's go see someone!"

"Chikah?" Fernadette queried, hearing her name. Showing an almost comical lack of inhibitions, the tiny Chikorita _jumped_ from where she was in the oak tree, where a conveniently placed branch slowed her fall, and she slid down it, creating little leaf buds along the branch as she did so. Her weight, although minuscule, weighed the branch down just enough to continue her descent, where a happy "Reeeeeeeeh!" indicated her obvious enjoyment at the time, and she sprang from the branch at the last moment, even somersaulting in the air as she did so, to land safely in Fee's arms!

"…wow" I murmured, stunned, "She's quite the acrobat, huh?"

"I'll say" Fee giggled, stroking her Chikorita along the back, who subsequently flinched, evidently still wary of her owner's touch, "It's such a shame you don't remember me, girl…" Fee continued, "cause I remember you so well"

"M-maybe you can spur her memory by sharing yours?" I ventured, unsure as to whether or not this'd actually work.

"Hmm, that's worth a shot" Fee concurred, as we began our walk towards the Day Care in the south, "Well… I remember the first few days I had her? She wasn't used to me yet, and wouldn't listen to me. So I went and grabbed some berries from a nearby bush, for like a peace offering?"

Fernadette's eyes flashed with acknowledgement, as if the event rang a distant bell in her mind, but didn't seem _quite_ potent enough to resurrect her recollection.

"But it turned out they were Rawst Berries, and she _hated_ how bitter they were!" Fee giggled, laughing despite herself, "A-and that made things worse, if anything. I lost what little confidence I had, and started to think I was a horrible trainer, not even knowing how to feed my poor Chikorita…"

"Riih…ta?" Fernadette squeaked, her face crumpled into a concentrating frown, as if the event in question was just on the very periphery of her memory.

"D-did that help?" Fee asked her little Chikorita, lifting her up from behind the front leg joints and looking her in the eye. Fernadette looked back at her confusedly, indicating the negative.

"Looks like you need something stronger?" I suggested, watching the two stare at each other intently.

"Ohh, umm…" Fee hesitated, still holding Fernadette in front of her, "I-I talked to Professor Elm about it, because I was feeling down for not being able to gain her trust, and he said something like 'different pokémon have different natures, and therefore different likes and dislikes. The best way to gain a pokémon's trust is to find out what they do like'. He reassured me by saying that most Chikorita do like bitter berries, 'cause they're the type of berries that grow in their natural environment, so in essence, I _wasn't_ the horrible trainer I thought I was. So I kept trying to make her happy, and eventually stumbled on the kinds of berries she _did_ like"

"Was it… a long search?" I asked, willing her story to continue as we passed under Goldenrod's famous arch, with the Day Care in sight at last.

"Actually, no, not at all!" Fee enthused, holding Fernadette in her arms once again, "Turns out it was Pecha Berries that she loved, and we found a nice tree that grew them just north of Cherrygrove City!"

"Chiiik…" Fernadette squeaked, evidently in deep thought. Her memory was still failing her, but something told me one last push would restore it at last!

"After I found the right berries to feed her with, we got along like a house on fire, and she'd follow me everywhere!" Fee giggled, playing with Fernadette's little leaf by flicking it between her fingers, "I remember this one day in particular. It was such a lovely day that we took a break from training, and just relaxed at the beach in Cherrygrove. I'd already picked out a heap of Pecha Berries for Fernadette's lunch, and she was happily tucking in when a Krabby emerged from nowhere, and took off with a few of them!"

"And… she wasn't happy about it?" I asked tentatively, watching the nostalgia induced excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"Haha, that's an understatement!" Fee chuckled, opening the door to the Day Care with her spare hand "She was _livid_. She chased that Krabby down, and proceeded to beat seven shades of-"

"Felicity? Oh, it's good to see you, lass!"

Fee's story was temporarily cut short, for we had both just realised where we were. In front of us stood Arthur Crawford, Fee's old boss. He looked a little worse for wear than he had been, but the excited sparkle in his eyes was all I needed to know that he was happy to see her again.

"Ohh, hey Arthur!" Fee cried, reaching forwards and hugging the geriatric with her one free arm, "It's so great to see you again!"

"You're looking great, lass!" Arthur chirped, amazed, "Tell the truth, I was a wee bit worried about you two. How've ye survived?"

"Ohh, I just needed reminding of one little thing" Fee giggled, gesturing to the little Chikorita in her arms.

"And where'd you find the wee one!?" Arthur gasped, astonished, "Didn't she get taken away from you?"

"Yup! But she's back now!" Fee exclaimed, "And I was just telling Blake a story about her!"

"So yeah, she beat the living daylights outta that Krabby" Fee continued, keeping a civil tongue around Arthur, "and started doing this cute little celebratory dance. Maybe it was just cause she was happy with herself for protecting her lunch or something, but it was just so awesome, and – hey, Arthur, have you got any Pecha Berries?"

"Pecha…" Arthur hesitated, "Uhh, I think I've got a few? Give me just a sec, lass!"

Arthur disappeared into the back room, and the clattering of cutlery could be heard as he evidently searched for the Pecha berries Fee had requested.

"This'll do it. This has to do it..." Fee held her breath, placing Fernadette on the ground and letting her run about for a few moments, exploring the new area with utmost curiosity.

"I've found some, lass!" Arthur's voice called from the back room, and he emerged into the main room once again, holding a small bag in his hand, "You were lucky. I think these're the last ones!"

"…ohh" Fee mumbled, suddenly disheartened, "D-do you need them? I shouldn't take them away if they're your last ones…"

"No, we'll be okay, lass" Arthur reassured her, opening the bag and sniffing the contents, "These ones are about to turn anyway, so you might as well take them!"

"Ohh, thank you so much, Arthur…" Fee gushed, gratefully receiving the little bag of berries from him. He disappeared into the back room once again, and Fee carefully knelt down to beckon to Fernadette, who had found yet another mess to clean.

"Come here, girl…" she cooed, emptying the bag's contents into her hand, "Want some _nice_ Pecha Berries?"

Fernadette looked up from the stain she was halfway through cleaning, her nose picking up on the tangy, sweet scent of the Pecha Berries.

"Reeh?" she squeaked, bright red eyes sparkling with anticipation. As she toddled over towards her owner, Fee placed half of the dozen or so berries into a neat little pile on the floor, and awaited Fernadette's approach, as well as passing one to Argus, who was all too happy to demolish the tiny treat.

"Don't let Ned see them" I chuckled, "You'll lose your hand"

"Ah, he is a bit of a… _connoisseur _when it comes to food, huh?" Fee giggled, choosing her words carefully and glancing towards Ned, who just stared back at her from the corner. Looks like her sarcasm went straight over his head…

"What about Luna?" she asked, shaking the remainder of the berries, "She want a couple?"

"Nah, Luna hates sweet berries" I replied, and Luna agreed with me by nodding, before returning her attention to Fernadette, who was eyeing the small pile of berries hungrily. With another enthusiastic sniff, she grabbed one in her mouth, then looked back up at Fee, whose eyes were gleaming with barely concealed excitement. A few lines of bemusement creased Fernadette's forehead, and she looked back at the berries again, then returned her gaze towards Fee…

"They're nice Pecha Berries, huh girl?" Fee asked her slowly, offering the remainder of the pile in her hands to her Chikorita. Fernadette squinted, chewing up the Pecha Berry that was in her mouth, and looking back up towards Fee again, confused. But then:

"Taah?!"

Her eyes bolted wide open, and flashed with realisation, "Chik! Chik -a- Reeh Chika!?"

The little Chikorita bounded forwards and jumped into Fee's arms, scattering Pecha Berries everywhere!

"Oh! Oh, it worked!" Fee gasped, tearfully bringing the elated Fernadette to her face and smothering her with attention, "Ohh, it's good to have you back, sweetie!"

"Chikaww…" Fernadette hummed, nuzzling Fee's face, and blushing with a mixture of nostalgia and overwhelming emotion.

"So… her memory's back?" I asked, stunned by the absurd level of cuteness this entire scenario was provoking.

"Isn't it wonderful?!" Fee giggled, as Fernadette clambered onto her shoulder and sat there, "Heh, you're such a _clever girl!_"

Ned rolled his eyes at such a display of adorable, which didn't really surprise me at all, whilst Luna also seemed in awe, like me. Argus, however, wanted his master's attention.

"Hownnn…?" He whimpered slowly, nudging her leg with his nose.

"What's wrong, Argy?" she cooed, carefully leaning down to console him, due to Fernadette still sitting on her shoulder, "Don't you worry, I still love you, boy!"

But Argus didn't seem worried about that. Bashfully, as if afraid that his master would get angry, he looked hungrily towards the Pecha Berries that had been littered across the ground.

"Ohh, you're just hungry?" Fee laughed, patting her faithful Houndoom on the head. Seeing that Fernadette was still happily dancing atop her shoulder, she conceded, and said, "Go on boy, you can have them!"

Argus didn't need telling twice, practically vacuuming up the berries that were littered across the floor. "Hown!" he barked happily, having eaten a satisfactory meal for the first time in a while, when Arthur re-emerged from the back room, a strange object in his hands.

"So, you're going now, lass?" He asked cautiously, the object disappearing behind the counter due to its height.

"Yup!" Fee chimed enthusiastically, staggering back to her feet whilst trying to keep Fernadette balanced on her shoulder, "Not so sure where we're going, though. Long as it's out of Johto, I'm happy!"

"Aye, that's a good idea" Arthur concurred, adjusting the object in his arms, "Hey lass, could you do me a wee favour?"

"Hunh?" Fee queried, glancing through Fernadette to acknowledge him, "S-sure thing, Arthur. What do you need?"

"Well, a few weeks back, we had a customer arrive from somewhere exotic, and he left a couple of pokémon with us. Well, needless to say, we cherished the two pokémon, because they were the first we'd had in quite some time!"

Fee shuffled nervously as she listened to Arthur, as if she was unsure of what he was going to say next.

"Anyway, we were watching his pokémon, and I came out to feed them one morning, and my goodness we were surprised!"

Arthur lifted his arms above the counter to reveal… an egg?

"We're not sure how it got there, lass, but the trainer seemed unwilling to take it with him. Could you take it, please? We can't take care of it here…"

"…an egg?" I mumbled, surprised. I was expecting something completely different, like picking up a delivery for the guy or something.

"Oh wow!" Fee gasped, staring at the egg with sheer amazement, "Any idea what's inside of it?"

"Aye, I do lass" Arthur chuckled, "But I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!"

"Ooh, sneaky!" Fee giggled, "Wh-what do you think, Blake? Wanna take it with us?"

"Yeah, it can't hurt, huh?" I surmised, eyeing the egg's strange colouring. I still wasn't used to the concept of pokémon hatching from eggs…

"Cheers, you two" Arthur sighed with relief, pushing the egg into my arms, "We couldn't afford to keep the incubator running all this time…"

"Wha? Wh-why me?" I hesitated, looking down at the egg that had been forced upon me. It was surprisingly light for an egg, with a cyan blue ring around a huge orange circle on both sides.

"Ehh. You were closest, young feller!" Arthur chuckled, "Didn't you want it?"

"Uhh, not so much that…" I mumbled, wanting to scratch the back of my head, but not being able to, due to the burden that I'd just acquired, "I just thought… Fee would be more suitable? I mean, she's got Argy to incubate it with fire and everything"

"Ahh, doesn't matter who's holding it, Blake" Fee piped up, reaching over and placing her hand on top of said egg, "The owner won't be chosen til it hatches anyways!"

"Oh, right…" I admitted, remembering that I had been told this by Fee in the past;

'_Of course, a hatched pokémon considers the first thing it sees as its owner'_

"So… we just make sure you're the first one seen?" I suggested.

"How 'bout we let it decide?" Fee reasoned, sliding beside of me and wrapping her arms around my chest, with Fernadette still somehow maintaining her balance on her shoulder.

"Seems fair enough!" I admitted, negotiating the egg into one arm and curling my other around Fee, "So… time to get going?"

"Sounds good to me?" Fee agreed, "Thanks for everything, Arthur! Say hi to Edith for me!"

"Oh, you're most welcome, lass!" Arthur chirped, "And make sure you call me, OK? One day I'll learn to work this here thingamajigger…"

"Will do!" Fee cried, and the two of us slowly walked out of the Day Care, with four pokémon in tow, and a new, egg-shaped addition.

Our journey had finally, officially begun.

* * *

**Author's note: **

**Another update for you, guys. Sorry this chapter wasn't all that exciting. But it does hopefully give you guys some food for thought, right?**

**Such as these questions:**

**What do you guys think is in that egg, and who's gonna keep it?**

**Where are they gonna go?**

**Was I a little over the top, or too premature, with Fernadette's regaining of her memory?**

**Did anyone get the little reference I made with the porridge and the syrup? It's quite obscure… ;)**

**Stay tuned for the travel north. However, it won't be uploaded til early December, cause I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year. :D**

** Next chapter; things happen! :3**


	7. Hunter's Chance

**Hunter's Chance**

I looked up to the sky, where the midday sun was just scarcely pleading its way through the thick blanket of clouds, injecting the weakest glimmer of warmth upon us. A vague indication that the day itself was trying to cheer up, but couldn't quite muster up the effort…

"You sure we'll make it to Ecruteak by nightfall?" I asked, perplexed, "Cause it's already lunchtime, and we haven't even left town…"

"Well, the _original_ plan was to be on our way by about ten…" Fee explained, stroking the loving Fernadette in her arms, "I guess those goodbyes took longer than I'd anticipated, heh…"

"Well, we're in no rush, huh?" I suggested, as our little group began to trek north once again, "I mean, we've got the rest of our lives, right?"

"We've gotta get moving if you want food, heh…" Fee chuckled meekly, "Remember that we're broke?"

"Ohh… right" I faltered, realising. We couldn't rely on Goldenrod's poke centre for provisions any more, and Ecruteak City was the closest poke centre to us, as fighting our way through Ilex Forest to Azalea Town really didn't appeal to me…

An image started to build in my mind, of getting constantly whacked in the face by branches as Fee charged through, almost like you see in those bad comedy films. That's another reason not to go through Ilex Forest, heh. And then there's the fact that our goal is Olivine City, which is in the opposite direction…

"Blake?"

"Hunh?" I sputtered, my thought cloud disappearing in a puff of imaginary smoke, "Wh-what'd I miss?"

"Nothing…" Fee giggled, stroking Fernadette atop her leaf, "I was just wondering where exactly you wanted to set up camp? Odds are we're not gonna make it to Ecruteak by night time…"

"Hmm…" I took to thought. Having travelled this route previously, I did have a vague idea of where everything was, but it was quite a long, drawn out route, with only one place of note along the way; the hospital, and the National Park that sat in front of it. I guess the place did look rather pretty…

"National Park?" I suggested, "It's pretty much halfway there, so we could use it as a stepping stone?"

"Sounds good to me!" Fee agreed, stopping to give Argus a gentle stroke with her free hand, "Might be able to avoid the winds if we camp near a building, too"

"That works" I concurred, shuffling the egg in my hands, for it was building up what felt like static electricity for some reason, "So, I take it we're gonna avoid the hospi-whoa!"

I was forced to tighten my grip on the egg as a last second reaction to a stampede of small children charging past us!

Most of them were wielding nets, and dressed in khaki shorts, off white shirts, and straw hats; Bug Catchers…?

"C'mon, we're gonna be late!" One of them shouted to the rest of the group, and they all picked up speed, disappearing around a corner and into the distance.

"What the…?" I asked slowly, "The hell's going on with those guys?"

"Bug Catchers?" Fee mused, squinting, "Wait, what day is it?"

"Umm… Tuesday, I think?" I replied hesitantly, having pretty much lost track of days over the past few months.

"That means the Bug Catching Contest's on!" Fee cried, suddenly excited, "C'mon Blake, you gotta see this!"

She ran off in the direction that the Bug Catchers went with Argus hot on her heels, giving me little choice but to follow. "C'mon guys!" I shouted, beckoning to Luna and Ned, one of whom complied happily.

Just barely keeping sight of her billowing hair behind her, we navigated our way through Goldenrod's twisted paths, passing many little shops and cafes along the way. What was so exciting about a Bug Catching Contest anyway…?

Regardless of why, it seemed as though Fee really wanted me to see it, so I continued chasing after her until even Goldenrod City itself was behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Luna valiantly keeping up with me, bounding with such grace that my breakneck speed barely looked like it challenged her agility at all. Meanwhile, I could just barely make out Ned on the horizon, stomping behind us all at his own nonchalant pace. At least he was following, I guess…

Legs aching from all the running I was forcing myself to do, I looked ahead just in time to come to a sudden, scrambling halt, so that I didn't crash directly into Fee!

"Heyyy, you kept up!" she giggled, Fernadette still in her arms, "Good work!"

"Just… barely!" I hacked, trying to catch my breath, "S-so why's… this Bug Cat…ching contest so amazing?"

Luna sidled up beside me, as if the kilometre or so I'd just ran was a gentle jog, with Ned edging closer in the background, and Fee answered with "Because the competition is so intense! Bug pokémon enthusiasts from all around the region, sometimes even further meet up here. Everyone gets the opportunity to catch a nice Bug pokémon, and the three best ones even win prizes!"

"Prizes, huh?" I surmised, already intrigued at the thought of free stuff, "So… where to they hold it?"

"Right here, in the National Park" Fee explained, gesturing ahead of her to the enormous gates that granted entry, "I've wanted to enter it for a while now, but I never get there in time…"

"Well… are we early enough this time?" I asked, already doubting myself, because there was a _lot_ of Bug Catchers charging past us to enter, at what sounded like the last minute.

Ned evntually caught up to us just as Fee answered with "Unlikely. Places fill up faster than a Buneary hutch…"

Some rather disturbing imagery popped into my head with what Fee had just said, but I thankfully managed to shake the disconcerting thoughts away, and tried to enthuse her with "Well, let's give it a shot, huh? You never know?"

"Yeah, can't hurt to look, eheh…" Fee chuckled meekly, advancing forwards once again, "And if not, we can still watch! C'mon, it'll be fun!"

We all entered through the first set of gates, where a large building separated the main route from the National Park itself, serving a dual purpose as a subdivision of sorts, with another path heading towards the enormous, dome shaped building that was the hospital…

"Now there's some nostalgia I'd rather forget…" Fee shivered, looking towards the menacing building with a sense of wistfulness. She and I both knew just how close she came to losing her life there…

"C-c'mon, let's see if they can get us a place, huh?" I stifled, steering Fee away from the negative and into the now, where those Bug Catchers from earlier could all be found, scrambling desperately around what appeared to be a registration desk.

"There's just gotta be enough places!" one near the front yelled, as clerks behind the desk attempted to sort out the chaos.

"One at a time, ONE at a time!" a male clerk yelled, brushing back the frantic Bug Catchers with his arm, "None of you will get in if you don't start behaving, got it?!"

Fear flashed across the horde of Bug enthusiasts, and they reluctantly calm down, shuffling into each other to form some semblance of a line.

"That's better" the clerk grumbled, eyeing the Bug Catchers pointedly before noticing Fee and I, "Hi there, kids! Are you interested in taking part in the Bug Catching Contest?"

"Umm…" I hesitated, instead glancing towards Fee, who was practically enraptured at the notion, "Y-yes! I'd love to!"

"I like your enthusiasm!" the clerk chuckles, "So much nicer on the ears than the desperation of these guys…"

A glance back to the desperation proved his point; the mere look on their faces said that they well and truly believe that the world could possibly end, should they be disallowed from participating in this Bug Catching Contest.

_Sad_ would be an appropriate word, I think.

"I don't know if there'll be a space for you though, Miss…" the Clerk announced sympathetically, "Not if _these guys_ have anything to do with it. That's not a problem, is it?"

"Aww, I guess not…" Fee conceded, ready to accept the fact should it arise, "It's only a competition after all, heh"

But Fee's remark provoked a rather negative response from the horde of Bug Catchers who were 'queuing' in front of the clerk;

"_Just_ a competition?!"

The entire group turned to face her, and she instantly balked from their combined anger.

"The Bug Catching Contest is _not_ 'just a competition'…" one announced, making sure to enunciate what Fee had said for the sakes of both attracting more attention and heightening the blame on her, "It is a _way of life! _How dare you insult the wonderful tradition of the Bug Catching Contest!"

His cohorts grunted in agreement, and he began to slowly walk towards Fee, as if attempting to intimidate her!

"Hey, you calm down now!" The clerk raged, but this Bug Catcher was beyond words now. I inched closer to Fee, ready to defend her if necessary, no matter how pathetic the reason. Yet regardless, my heart beat heavily, and my breathing was sharp and uneasy. I wasn't quite sure what to expect here. Could a _Bug Catcher_ really be this vindictive?

"You think you have the right to insult our tradition?" he sneered, walking closer still.

"I'm not _insulting_ anyone's tradition" Fee countered defiantly, with a tinge of worry flashing across those eyes of hers. "It's just a contest. What is your problem?!"

"_You _are my problem" the Bug Catcher spat, his face mere inches from hers now. Argus growled threateningly, and my blood boiled, but neither of us had time to act, because;

"You _waltz_ in here, _mock_ us, and expect us to be fine about it? Well, we're not! We're-"

"CHIKAAAAAH!"

In one astoundingly quick movement, Fernadette had acted, springing from Fee's arms in a violent movement, then headbutting the Bug Catcher square in the stomach!

He fell to the ground with a painful sounding crash, and Fernadette climbed atop his chest, viciously assaulting his face with slashes from her leaf!

"Chik! Chik! Kah! Kari! Tah!" She squeaked, with multiple repeated strikes, before being scooped up by Fee again.

"_Down_ girl!" fee cried, calming Fernadette down with a stroke along the back, "It's OK, it's OK! You got that nasty Bug Catcher good!"

"Riih…" Fernadette peeped, now jubilant once again, and settled down in Fee's arms, evidently pleased with herself for protecting her trainer.

"Why you!" The bug Catcher yelped, staggering back to his feet with a face full of cuts and bruises, "I'll teach you for messing with a Bug Connoisseur!"

His hand dove for a poke ball on his belt, but his anger was soon quelled when the clerk intervened.

"And I'll teach you to threaten a lady!" the clerk seethed, pointing towards the door. "Out!"

The unmitigated fury on the Bug Catcher's face melted away, almost instantly, into a clammy mix of embarrassment, disbelief and regret.

"B-but!" he stammered, now completely devoid of cockiness, "But she… she offended me!"

"And you threatened her" the clerk countered simply, "She didn't offend you, you just took offence. Completely different. Now get out. You're banned from participating in today's Bug Catching Contest"

"…mhh?!" The Bug Catcher gurgled. Tears welled up in his already watery eyes, and he cried "I'll get you for this!" Before he wailed "MOM!" and stormed out of the room, utterly bawling.

Predictably, his fellow cohorts began complaining as soon as he'd left, yelling foul expletives and shooting stony glances at Fee and I.

"WHO else wants to get banned?!" The clerk bellowed once again, silencing the unruly crowd almost immediately.

"That's better" he huffed, before returning his attention to Fee, "Sorry about all that trouble, miss. Could I interest you in participation?"

The Bug Catcher horde began to rev up with anger yet again, but a firm stare from the clerk had them silenced once again.

"Thank you for your patience" he continued, kindly addressing Fee and I once again, "So, all I need you to do is fill in this form…"

"Okeydokey!" Fee cried, a little _too_ enthusiastically, "Here girl, you play with Uncle Blake for a while, OK?"

I had barely any time to react, before an excited Fernadette was placed carefully on my shoulder, and Fee scribbled over the contract with gusto.

"…and that's all you need!" the clerk replied energetically, "Now, you take one pokémon with you, and catch yourself a Bug-type out in the park once the contest officially starts. Who will you choose?"

"Hmm…" Fee mused, glancing back towards her two pokémon, "As much as I'd love to use you, sweetie…" she motioned to Fernadette, who was busy dancing happily on my shoulder, and subsequently snapped to attention, staring at her gleefully, "But you don't like bugs, huh?"

"Kahhh…" Fernadette squeaked, shaking her head to the side and hitting me with her leaf both times.

"And you can fry those nasty bugs, can't you Argy?" Fee cooed, kneeling down to talk to her Houndoom.

"Oh please…" a Bug Catcher in the background snorted, "Using a Fire type at the Bug Catching contest? Pfft…"

"Quiet you" the clerk scolded him, before returning his attention to Fee, "So a Houndoom is your choice?"

"Yeah, seems safe" Fee concluded, "You behave for Uncle Blake, OK Ferny?"

"Ri!" Fernadette chimed. She raised one foreleg in front of her face as a mock salute, _finished _the salute, and then sat calmly on my shoulder once again, as if nothing had happened.

"OK, so I'll go over the rules, since you're new" The clerk began to explain, "You've got twenty minutes to catch a bug pokémon in the park. If your pokémon faints, it's game over. Whoever catches the strongest bug wins!"

"Gotcha!" Fee acknowledged, giving Argus an assuring stroke, "So I start now, right?"

"Not just yet…" The clerk sighed, "Gotta sign these guys up first…"

He reservedly held up a pen in his one hand, and the crowd of Bug Catchers dove forwards, ready to fight to the death over this one pen, and sign up for the contest…

"Wow. So… enthusiastic" I grimaced, choosing my words carefully.

"And it happens _every_ time" the clerk grumbled, "I tell ya, sometimes it's more intense than the competition itself"

He rolled his eyes at the horde, who were busy tripping over each other to grab the pen for the signups.

"Looks like we're gonna be here a while…"the clerk muttered, resting his head on his arms and watching the 'action' unfold…

* * *

"Alright, are we ready…?" The clerk groaned, after about half an hour of watching the Bug Catchers brutalise each other, and thus most of them now sported multiple bruises. Many of them shouted a resilient "Yes!" in response, and the clerk's response was another reserved sigh.

"Alright…" he mumbled finally, "Everyone who is participating, please step outside and await further instructions. Spectators, please find somewhere _out of the way_, so you can watch without disrupting other competitors, OK?"

"Sure thing" I replied, whilst the other two Bug Catchers who couldn't get a place just shuffled angrily, "Good luck, Fee!"

"Teehee, thanks!" she giggled, casually stepping aside so the remainder of the Bug Catcher horde could fight over who got out first, "C'mon Argy!"

Argus rolled his eyes at the sheer stupidity that was taking place in front of him, namely the Bug Catchers squabbling at the doorway, and hatched up a plan:

"Hownnnn…" he bayed strolling up to them from behind. A swift, concise movement had him tripping one Bug Catcher up by causing his leg to buckle underneath him, and said Bug Catcher taking the rest down with him!

"Argy!" Fee cried, watching with a mixture of horror and amusement when the horde collapsed to the ground in a painful looking bundle.

"You shouldn't have done that, boy…" Fee resisted the urge to chuckle, looking him in the eyes to communicate she didn't approve. Argus whimpered guiltily, but couldn't, try as he might, hide the sheer elation that had crept across his face during the incident. Atta boy, Argy…

"I guess it'll teach them a lesson, though" Fee reasoned, carefully stepping over the tangled mess of limbs over the floor and exiting first.

"Damn Houndoom…" one Bug Catcher groaned in a combination of anger and pain, causing Argus to retort with a warning growl before jumping over them all nimbly and joining his master. And the two slowly wandered off into the main park, leaving Luna, Fernadette, Ned and I with nothing to do but find a place to watch from.

"C'mon guys" I suggested, "Let's go see if they've got a good view upstairs"

A short trek up to the next floor had an enormous window looking out onto the entire park, obviously designed with this one intention. A waist height countertop jutted out in front of the window to stop people getting too close, whilst a dozen or so armchairs were strategically placed for the best compromise between comfort and visibility. The only annoyance in the room, other than the two sullen Bug Catchers, was the malicious looking vending machine in the corner. We were broke, so buying food from it to feed our deprived stomachs was a no go. And it all looked so tempting, too…

"L-let's see if we can find Fee, huh?" I muttered, tearing my eyes away from the vending machine and its shininess and picking an armchair with a good view. Egg in my arms, I just retired to watching, with Luna obediently at my side, and Fernadette still perched on my shoulder. Ned… just stomped off into the corner of the room and did nothing. No surprises there.

Fee looked as though she was having a whale of a time, chasing about the National Park after the assorted Bug types that had been let loose in there. Of course, there was seemingly nothing in there that could stand up to the might of Argus' Fire attacks. What Bug could survive a scorching like that?

"Stupid girl…" One of the surly Bug Catchers grumbled, watching Fee run about excitedly after an ecstatic Argus. I clenched my fist at the mere mention of those words. Insulting her like that, right in front of me… the guy must have balls of steel.

Luna noticed my obvious anger, and nuzzled my other arm as an attempt to keep me calm, but her efforts were mostly in vain.

"Using a _Houndoom…_" he spat, fully conscious of the fact that I was ready to kill him, "That's like going to a paintballing game with an assault rifle"

"The hell?" I questioned him, bursting from my seat. "You're a _Bug Catcher_. What gives you the right to be so high and mighty over someone else's choices?"

"I am _not_ a Bug Catcher!" he retorted, standing up to meet my gaze, "I am a Bug Connoisseur, and her disgraceful Fire type is corrupting the beauty of this game!"

"It's a Bug Catching contest, not the damn Pokelympics!" I cried, voicing my exasperation with a hand gesture as Fernadette hopped down from my shoulder, "Whatever happened to accepting others as they are?"

"Whatever happened to respecting others' ways of life?" he countered, not conceding an inch.

"Oh, and you're doing that, aren't you?!" I fumed, shifting the egg into one arm, because I was ready to strangle the guy.

"You two are the foreign party here!" the Bug Catcher roared, "So you abide to _our_ rules! You don't just walk into someone's house and demand stuff outta them, do ya?!"

"What, so you live here, and own this entire complex, do you?" I enquired, pouncing on his failure.

"…No" He growled sullenly, "But that's not the point!"

"No, it really is" I sighed, "Not your place, not your rules. The guy let her in, so she's doing nothing wrong. It's people like you who ruin things for others…"

"Well _you_ ruined _my _fun by showing up here and stopping me from entering the hunt!" He flailed, clearly resorting to desperate measures just for the sake of arguing.

"What…?" I deflated, facing him once again, "You mean to say that this is your only purpose in life? To squat around looking for Bug pokémon all day?"

"Yes?" he replied unblinkingly, without even a trace of self-conscience. What was wrong with this guy?

"I participate in the hunt every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, just like my father before me" he announced, seemingly _proud_ of this, "And I will continue this noble tradition for generations to come!"

"And what if the other guy was the one who got in instead of you?" I asked, in spite of myself, "Would you be all happy with that because one of us 'foreigners' didn't get in?"

The other Bug Catcher just shrugged uncaringly and returned to staring up at the ceiling, while his cohort yelled "Hell no! Why do you think we fight over it every day? We're rival members of the Bug Enthusiasts and Trainers Association! I wouldn't want _anyone _to enter in my stead, least of all outsiders like you and your-"

I already hand the fist of my free arm raised, ready to pound some manners into the guy, but it turned out that I didn't need to do anything. Someone else acted for me.

"Kraaaaaah!" Ned hissed, charging from his corner and thumping the Bug Catcher, bulldozing the guy into the wall!

"Whooa, Ned!" I gasped, dashing forwards to hold him back, "Calm down, boy!"

Ned just stood there, growling at the Bug Catcher. He now sported a painful looking bruise on the back of his head, and barely looked conscious. Given that Ned had _dented_ the wall when he threw the boy into it, I wasn't too surprised.

"What was all that about, Ned?" I asked him, perplexed, "Were you… defending Fee for me?"

"I think your pokémon just wanted him to shut up" the other Bug Catcher deadpanned, still staring up at the ceiling, "Some of the guys just take things too far. 'The hunt', 'Bug Connoisseur', 'Noble Tradition'? He makes it sound like we're a buncha snobs or something. But we're just _Bug Catchers…"_

"That sounds a lot more like Ned" I laughed, grinning at him as he stomped back off to his corner, "Thanks, buddy. You really helped out there"

Ned glanced back at me, and simply shrugged. Wow. He didn't hiss for once.

"He'll be fiiiine…" the other Bug Catcher reassured me when I once again looked towards Ned's 'victim' flailing about limply on the floor.

"I was about to hit him myself, heh" I couldn't help but laugh, walking back to the seat, where a concerned Luna and Fernadette were anxiously staring at me, seemingly wondering if everything was OK.

"Did I miss anything good, girls?" I chuckled light-heartedly, falling back into the comfy chair and greeting the pair once again.

"Bree? On-bree?" Luna mewed, which I guessed meant "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine Luna, don't worry…" I reassured her, with a comforting stroke along her back, "What about you, Ferny?"

"Chik Chikah!" Fernadette squeaked, pointing out the window and grabbing my attention. During the 'altercation' I had had with the grumpy Bug Catcher, the contest had finished completely, and it looked like they were handing out rewards!

"Ahh crap, we missed like all of it!" I cried, scooping up Fernadette and dashing back downstairs, "C'mon guys!"

That little fiasco between the Bug Catcher and I meant that I had to miss the whole of the contest, and Fee was practically guaranteed to ask "Did you see how I did?!", so I was gonna have to lie my ass off. Great…

Luna and Ned followed me down the stairs as I rushed out through the gates into the main park itself, just about reaching Fee in time to see her ascending the podium?!

"Oh wow…" I gasped, juggling both Fernadette and the egg in my arms. She wasn't too pleased with it constantly zapping her with static electricity, and hence tried to avoid it. But gravity was not her friend today, and whenever she made a gap to move out of its way, it would simply slip into the hole and be close to her again.

"Kahhh…" Fernadette sighed, giving up and glaring at the egg, which had just rolled across to her, making contact and jolting her once again.

"There we go…" I remarked, separating the two by lifting Fernadette onto my shoulder once again.

"Chih-kah!" She squeaked, sounding grateful to be away from the egg. Ned and Luna caught up to me, and the four of us waited outside, where the results were being announced!

"Blake! Did you see how I did?!" Fee gasped, following my prediction to the word and throwing her arms around my chest in excited embrace, "I got second place!"

"Second?" I gasped, surprised, "Wow, that's gotta be pretty good for someone's first try! Who won?"

"Ohh, the winner was-" Fee began, but her voice was cut off by another, familiar sounding one.

"Me" the teenage male volunteered, stepping out of the small crowd surrounding the podium. Dressed almost fully in khaki, with a strange mauve mop of hair, Azalea Town's gym leader, Bugsy, distinguished himself from the crowd.

"Oh, hey there Blake!" He exclaimed, just as surprised as I, "It's been a while, huh? How've you been getting on?"

"Yeah, it has…" I reminisced for a moment. Sure, my only memory with Bugsy involved being held hostage in a well, but hey, memories were memories.

"I've… been better" I shrugged, not really feeling like sharing the experiences of the last few months with him. "Not too surprised to see you here, I've gotta admit" I conceded, knowing all too well his love of Bugs, "What'd you catch?"

"Oh, just a Pinsir" Bugsy chuckled good-naturedly, making it seem as though the mighty Pinsir was just another pokémon. "Another one for the collection, heh. But it was this girl here who lucked out! Those are really rare here in the Bug Catching Contest!"

"Wha, me?" Fee gasped, stunned, "Are they really that rare? I only caught it cause it was the only thing to survive Argy's Fire attacks…"

"Aww, don't be so modest" Bugsy enthused her, "Second place is a great achievement!"

"Rare, huh?" I asked Fee, wondering what exotic Bug type she could've caught, "So… what'd you catch?"

"O-oh, yeah!" Fee cried, now full of energy once again, "I can show you!"

Procuring a Park Ball from her bag, she shouted "Come on out, Hermes!" and released its contents.

With a theatrical sparkle of little stars flying everywhere, her pokémon appeared in a flash of crimson light. Having four spindly legs that looked barely able to support its body, which was admittedly tiny, the little blue and yellow creature known as Surskit danced about happily on the ground.

"Skiiiit!" it whistled, bouncing up and down on its little legs and looking very proud of itself.

Fernadette jumped down from my shoulder – landing clumsily on her stubby feet – to get a better look at this new pokémon. She crouched down to greet Hermes properly, by getting face to face, and Hermes' response was to sprinkle water into the air, soaking them both?

"Kaaahhh…" Fernadette squeaked in response, covering herself with her leaf to avoid the water and awkwardly shuffling backwards towards Fee.

"Aww, it's OK sweetie…" Fee cooed, watching her Chikorita bump into her foot, and kneeling down to pick them both up, "Hermes just needs to learn how to communicate better, that's all!"

"Reeh-ta!" Fernadette squeaked with a resilient nod, before hopping onto Fee's shoulder and sitting down, now back in her comfort zone.

"But… why the name?" I had to ask, confused. Hermes was the Greek God who flew across the sky on winged boots, changing daytime to night time and vice versa. What did a little Surskit have to do with that…?

"Well, you've heard of the God Hermes, right?" Fee asked, basically voicing my previous thoughts. I nodded dumbly, and she continued with "Well, Surskit are crepu… crepuss… dammit, I can't say the word. Awake in the morning and evening!"

"Ohhhk?" I mumbled, barely following.

"And you know how Hermes skates across the sky at morning and evening?" Fee hinted, expecting me to finish it.

"Your Surskit… skates across the water?" I hesitated, unsure. But realisation hit me like a punch to the face, and "OH! I get it now!"

"Yeaahhh, there we go!" Fee giggled, carefully placing the interestingly named Hermes atop her head and balancing towards me for a hug, "Nice work!"

"Hey, how do you know about all these foreign legends?" I asked, perplexed, "No one else I've met over here seems to know anything about other countries…"

"Ohh, that's cause of my Dad…" Fee mumbled nostalgically, resting her head against my shoulder. "He's got Greek heritage, so he used to tell me these sorta stories back when I was little, y'know?"

"Ahh, that makes sense…" I agreed. Wow, this was strange. Fee almost never talked about her father. I knew basically nothing about the guy because of this.

"Hey… are you OK?" I hesitated, noticing her eyes hollow out due to a dampened spirit.

"I-I'll be fine" She stammered, breaking the hug and digging into her pocket as some means of distraction, "Oh, that reminds me! We won prize money too!"

"Prize money?!" I stuttered, realising just how many problems a little money could solve, "H-how much?"

"Umm…" she stalled, digging the money out of her pocket and counting it, "5000 poke! That's enough to feed us for a couple of weeks at least!"

"Awesome!" I cried, my mind already snapping back to that shiny vending machine in the mezzanine upstairs from the gate. I glanced back to look at it, but something else loomed into my peripheral vision; the hospital.

"Hey…" I mumbled, "Do we… wanna put this hospital business behind us?"

"Hospital…?" Fee queried, her voice tarnished with disdain at the very mention of the word. She then peered over to where I was looking, and came to the same conclusion. "Oh…"

"If we pay off the last of the debt, it means they won't come looking for us at a later date…" I reasoned, already feeling guilty. She almost died there, and now I was asking her to go back, likely pay up all of what little money we had, and put her back in harm's way again…

"I-I guess so" Fee reluctantly agreed. With a reserved sigh, she nodded, returned the money to her pocket, and began the slow walk up towards the hospital in the distance, beckoning me to follow.

"It'll get the monkey off our backs, huh?" Fee asked. Although she knew the answer, I could tell she was just looking for some support, considering how she'd just gone to all that effort to earn the 5000, and now it was gonna be taken away. Just like that.

"Yeah. We'll be rid of them for good" I answered, trying my best to reassure her with a hand hold. That notion seemed to cheer her up slightly, resulting in the weakest of smiles.

The hospital slowly crept forwards, rising out of the horizon like an ominous blanket of cold inevitability. The biting wind and chilly temperatures only added to the effect. Fee slowly withdrew her pokémon one at a time as we neared the complex, and suggested I do the same. I had the feeling that she wanted to be in and out as quickly as possible, and having the staff tell us that pokémon weren't allowed inside would just slow things down. So I complied, returning Ned and Luna for a moment so that we could get this over and done with.

"Umm… hey" she stammered self-consciously to the receptionist, "I'm here to pay off the rest of my bills…"

"Okeydokey dear!" The awfully chipper receptionist replied, typing away at her computer, "May I ask your name?"

"Felicity Nyx" Fee sighed, slapping down the five notes of money, "…there you go"

"Ooh, that should just about cover it!" the receptionist chimed, squinting at the computer screen through her glasses, then smiling, "I'll just get that changed up for you!"

"_Just about?" _Fee mouthed to me irately while the receptionist changed up some money in the cash register.

"Here you go, honey!" she sang, depositing back in Fee's hand… a few coins, "And you're all clear now! Thank you for paying it all back!"

"…thanks" Fee's voice echoed hollowly. She stretched a fragile smile across her face, but I could tell it was an act; it was always her eyes that told her emotions.

Normally they'd be brimming with that wonderful shade of green, but now they were opaque and… empty, almost.

She dropped the few measly coins into her pocket, and muttered "Not even enough for a RageCandyBar…"

"Ohh, I'm sorry Fee…" I murmured, reaching forwards for a comforting hug, all the while riddled with guilt. It was my fault that we were destitute once again.

"Naww, don't you be apologising" Fee murmured, an actual smile breaking out on her face, "You were right. It _does_ feel good to be debt free!"

"Still… I'm not sure we did the right thing" I added, the whole scenario weighing on my mind, "We could've bought some supplies and stuff with that money"

"And have the hospital guys chasing after us with rusty scalpels?" Fee giggled, leading me out of the hospital again, "Trust me, we did the right thing. Sure, we'll be hungry tonight, but we'll get to Ecruteak tomorrow, and it'll be fine!"

"If you're sure…" I muttered, inwardly exulting because my plan went pretty much perfectly. The both of us were feeling infinitely better, and now that the skies were beginning to darken, it felt like an appropriate time to find somewhere to camp. Sadly, the gates didn't allow campers, so we had to find the most sheltered spot available.

"Somewhere out of the wind, if possible…" Fee advised knowledgeably. Although I already knew this, I also knew that she had plenty more tenting experience than I. The path from the hospital to the National Park was pretty much an open plain, so we had no luck there.

"Oh no, Blake…" Fee murmured, noticing something and grabbing my attention. "Look"

She directed my view to a young blonde boy over by the gates to the National Park. Obviously inexperienced with tents, he was trying to pitch his shabby canvas alongside the south wall, where a strong crosswind was stubbornly impeding his best efforts. He'd wrestled a rope into submission, and grabbed a hammer to try and drive a peg into the ground on top of it, but no sooner had he let go of the rope…

Floosh!

And his tent was gone with the wind…

The boy raised his hand after the tent, as if willing it to come back, but soon realised the futility of his actions, and retired to a state of dejection, crouching down against the wall with his arms around his shins for a little warmth, muttering inaudibly to himself. It wasn't hard to tell that the poor boy was at his breaking point…

"Aww, the poor kid!" Fee gasped, wracked with sympathy, "C'mon Blake, we gotta help!"

"Alright…" I sighed, carefully stowing the egg in my bag before running after her. She was already kneeling down and attempting to console him by the time I'd caught up.

"Heyyyy, are you OK?" she asked as softly as the howling wind would allow, resting her hand comfortingly on the boy's shoulder. He looked up at her, tears welling in his eyes, and his locks of shoulder length blonde curls blowing about madly.

"N-not really" he mumbled thickly, "I'm… not very good at this"

"Aww, don't be like that!" Fee tried to reassure him, "How long have you been out on the road?"

"…a week" he muttered, almost embarrassedly. I guess I couldn't blame him. He must've thought that Fee was secretly laughing at him or something, for making such a shameful display of putting up a tent.

"And how far have you come?" Fee enthused, trying to inspire some confidence.

"From Goldenrod" He sighed, burying his face in his knees and moping some more.

"Aww, please don't be sad…" Fee cooed, hiding the fact that, admittedly, he hasn't gotten very far yet, "What's your name?"

"My…name?" the boy asked, perplexed. Fee nodded for support, and he stammered with his answer, "My name's… Darrell"

"Well Darrell, I'm Felicity, and this is Blake" Fee announced, pointing to me. "Now you listen, OK? Training journeys aren't about being the strongest or getting somewhere faster than anyone else, or even catching the most pokémon. It's simply about having fun. As long as you enjoy it, you're a winner. Got it?"

"I'm not having much fun right now…" Darrell shivered, rubbing his bare arms, "Stupid winter… I hate being a Scorpio"

"Yeah, it is pretty cold out here, huh?" Fee agreed, "And you're so under-dressed for it, too. Hey Blake, reckon we should get the tent set up here? It'll be a little warmer in there"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" I nodded, teeth chattering. I heaved my bag from around my shoulders, and extracted the camping gear from it.

"W-won't yours get blown away too?" Darrell enquired, sounding slightly worried at the notion of _all three_ of us being out here in the cold.

"Yours did because you tried to set it up in the wrong place" I remarked, feeling intelligent for actually knowing something about camping, "You've gotta find somewhere that's sheltered from the wind"

"And plus, it's tricky for just one person to put up a tent" Fee added. "There's three of us here, so with some teamwork, we can show that nasty wind who's boss, huh?"

"Oh, alright?" Darrell asked, intrigued, "So… where's a good place?"

"You almost had it" Fee tried her best to encourage him, "We've got Easterlies, so you wanna pitch the tent against an east facing wall. Make sense?"

"Aww, so I just had the wrong side of the building?" He sighed exasperatedly, burying his head in his palm, "I'm _such_ an idiot…"

"Hey, come on now…" Fee soothed, "this sorta stuff simply takes practice. C'mon, you can help! We'll get this tent up in no time!"

* * *

And between the three of us, we eventually managed to beat the battered two man tent into shape against the wind. Seeing as we were three, there was little guessing that things were going to be… cosy. Just in time, too, because the 'sun' had pretty much set. Luna didn't help the overcrowding problem, but she was the safest source of light the tent would allow, with her pretty blue rings illuminating us all in an eerie, yet strangely pleasant glow.

"So… whose Umbreon is it?" Darrell asked conversationally, noticing her presence in the tent.

"Oh, she's Blake's" Fee chimed, stroking Luna affectionately. "It'll be a bit of a squeeze, but it beats the cold, huh?" She insisted, injecting as much optimism as she could into the situation.

"So… how many pokémon have you got, Darrell?" I asked casually a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Just the one…" He sighed, obviously still feeling down, "But I dunno if I can show you in here"

"Why? What kinda pokémon is it?" I asked tentatively, stroking Luna and imagining something obnoxiously huge like an Onix.

"A Litwick…" Darrell mumbled, "She's kinda mischievous, and I haven't had her very long, so she might burn the tent down or something"

"Ohh, right…" I replied slowly, my fears subsiding, "Well, you're doing the right thing, that's for sure"

"I-I am?" Darrell stuttered, perplexed.

"Yeah, definitely!" Fee chipped in, "You're learning your pokémon's shortcomings. Some people think that pokémon can do everything, yet you already know that your Litwick can't be let out in small spaces. That's a great attitude to have!"

"Bree!" Luna chipped in, sounding like she was agreeing.

"Wow, really?" He exclaimed, shocked, "I-I thought I was a horrible trainer. I mean, I've only got one pokémon, and I can't even control her…"

"Ghost types are… tricky" Fee explained, choosing her words carefully, "And you've only had her a week. These things take time, don't worry!"

"Oh, when you look at it that way…" Darrell mused, "I guess I am being kinda impatient, huh?"

"You know what?" Fee suggested, "How about you try feeding her by hand? It might be a bit dangerous, cause she's a Litwick, but there's no better way to build trust between a human and a pokémon"

"Heyyy, that sounds like a swell idea!" he cried, his nasal voice actually ringing with confidence for once, "I'll give that a try tomorrow first thing!"

"That's the spirit!" Fee cried, clapping her hands together, "Just remember, they're _pokémon_. With _feelings_. If she doesn't accept it first time, try try again, and your persistence will eventually pay off. Got it?"

"Got it" Darrell nodded, stretching and stifling down a yawn, "Well, it's getting kinda late now, huh? You guys wanna get some sleep?"

"Sounds good to me" I agreed, manoeuvring our two sleeping bags into position, "Things'll be tight, but hey, better than the cold of outside, huh?"

"I'll say" Fee hummed, snuggling into her sleeping bag alongside me and resting her head against my shoulder.

"H-hey guys?" Darrell mumbled, manipulating his own sleeping bag into place and sliding into it, "I just wanted to say thanks for helping me today. It was really… nice, you know?"

"Ohh, no need to say thanks" Fee called from the other side of me, "Trainers help one another wherever possible. 'Sides, we couldn't just leave you out in the cold. You would've caught your death…"

"B-but still, it really made me feel happy" Darrell insisted, "It just… helped. So much"

"It's no problem!" Fee giggled, cuddling into me, "Trainers are like family. We get into fights, we yell at each other, and we're each other's biggest rivals. But when it counts, we look out for each other too. And that's all that matters"

"Wow…" Darrell mused, staring up at the ceiling, "That's really deep, y'know?"

"Ohh, it's just an old saying I've heard too many times" Fee chuckled dismissively, squeezing my hand with her own, "Anyway, let's get to sleep now, huh?"

"Sounds good to me" Darrell agreed, turning away and bunching his pillow under his head for comfort, "Night guys. Thanks for everything tonight"

"G'night…" both of us replied at the same time. Fee nuzzled her head against my chest, while Luna curled up in a ball above the two of us, purring and bathing the tent in a gentle blue glow. With the fuzzy warmth of Fee's hug and the liberating joy of finally being debt free contrasting with the spirited howling of the merciless wind outside and the disdained grumbling of my unsatisfied stomach, I slowly managed to doze off on the uncomfortable ground, with the worries of the hospital now well and truly behind us.

* * *

**Author's note: Well, here's an update for you all. Sorry it took a while. You can blame NaNoWriMo. xD**

**Hope this chapter's up to standards. It's reasonably long to make up for my absence, and I've thrown in a new OC as well. Darrell doesn't have much depth in his character right now, and he'll likely only stay around for a few chapters, but he makes a nice addition, huh?**

**What're your guys' thoughts on Hermes the Surskit? Reckon he'll be a fun addition?**

**Also wondering what you guys think is in that egg. Haven't had any guesses yet. :D**

**Apologies for a bland title. I couldn't think of anything, so I just borrowed one of my favourite song titles from my all time favourite game. Can anyone guess that? :3**

**As always, any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Please read and review if you can spare the time?**


	8. A Detour For Darrell

**Chapter Eight – A Detour For Darrell**

My eyes slowly forced themselves open, and I was momentarily confused to see nothing but a light greenish translucence invading my vision. With my brain not wanting to function just yet, I left that enigma aside for a moment to find what had awoken me at such an ungodly hour. It must've been early, because I felt as though I hadn't even slept; my eyes were so tired that they felt stretched sideways…

Through my blurry vision, I tilted my head upwards, only to notice a dark figure staring at me intently;

"Breeee…" Luna mewed, glowing softly underneath the strange green canvas.

And that's when it hit me.

"We're in a tent…" I chuckled awkwardly, wondering how the hell it took me this long to figure that out. I must've been pretty damn tired to not have realised this until now.

"Ayup…" Fee's voice mumbled softly to my right. A pair of arms snaked their way around my chest, and next thing I knew, she was nuzzling me softly, "Such a wonderful feeling, huh?"

"Uhh… sure" I muttered, wondering how sleeping in a tent could be classed as 'wonderful'. But then it hit me; sleeping in a tent was one way of saying that we were officially on our journey!

No wonder Fee was happy, sleeping in an uncomfortable mass of green tarpaulin, on what felt like a floor of sharp stones and spikes. Although the entirety of my back felt like it had had its skin torn off, bearing the pain was worth it, because it meant that Fee and I were finally following our dreams. The wind was howling, but in an ironic kinda way, it felt good to be in this shabby old tent instead of the comfort of a poke centre, because it just seemed more… real.

However, the novelty of sleeping in a tent was wearing off quickly, only to be replaced with surprise when I detected another movement to my _left_…

"Eww, you guys are hugging?" a drowsy Darrell complained, making a point to turn away in evident repulsion, "C'mon, seriously?"

Well that killed it.

Biting back the urge to say something I'd later regret, I extracted myself from Fee's grip and sat up. Rubbing my still tired eyes, I settled on, "Trust me, kid. In a few years, you won't find it so creepy"

"Well that's a few years away" Darrell countered, shaking his head, "Now, it's creepy"

"Well, arguing about it won't help anyone, will it?" Fee intervened, before things could get out of hand.

"It might?" I tried to chuckle, before meeting an awkward silence from both her _and_ Darrell.

"…or not" I sighed, "C'mon Luna. Let's have a look at outside, huh?"

Wrestling my way out of the sleeping bag and collapsing out of the packed tent, I found my feet and looked around. The biting wind blew straight through me, just as I'd expected, but the sun was beginning to rise, and judging by the low, misty grey clouds in the sky, it looked like we were in for a dry, but freezing morning.

"Weather looks pretty stable…" I shivered, teeth chattering. I crouched down to hug Luna for some warmth, who mewed affectionately and started purring. It wasn't too long before the tent rustled again, and another figure burst out of it.

Collapsing out of the tent in almost the same manner as I, Darrell span around and glared at it for a few moments, "Damn thing…"

"You hate tents too, huh?" I shivered, still hugging into Luna for warmth and feeling glad that the egg was still tucked away in my bag. This cold wouldn't help it in the slightest.

"Not so much the tent…" Darrell responded, his teeth also chattering, "I hate that little lip that some have on the bottom, cause I always trip over them. Without fail…"

"…ah" I said, feeling conversation grind to an awkward halt, "S-so, where're you heading to today?"

"Violet City" he answered bluntly, "Might as well start challenging gyms from the beginning, huh?"

"I guess…" I conceded, with the knowledge that the one and only badge I own was Morty's, and his gym was fourth in line out of Johto's eight gyms, "Hey, you don't have to do them in order, you know? Why not try Whitney first?"

"You kiddin'?" Fee chuckled from inside of the tent, "Have you _met_ Whitney's Miltank?"

"Uhh…" both of us hesitated, leaving me to wonder where she was heading with this conversation. I had indeed met Whitney's Miltank. It was responsible for demolishing most of the Radio Tower's second floor, back when Copper and I helped all those trapped prisoners – one of whom was Whitney herself – to escape. I could tell that that Miltank was _powerful_ even then, but the way Fee reacted to what I said… it was like I was grossly underestimating it.

"What's she doing in there?" I couldn't help but ask to Darrell, taking advantage of the convenient silence. He simply shrugged in response. "No idea. Girl stuff?"

"Getting changed" Fee answered for me from inside of the tent, "No need to worry!"

"Oh, right… course" I chuckled, nervously scratching the back of my head, "So… what's this about the Miltank?"

"Heh" Fee laughed, exiting from the tent and managing to not trip over the little rim thingy like Darrell and I had done. Dressed in applicably warm and woolly clothing, she continued. "Whitney's Miltank is pretty infamous among beginner trainers for being pretty much unbeatable. She's the reason a lot of trainers give up on their third badge"

"O…K?" I faltered, confused, "Why's that? Her Miltank didn't seem so dangerous when I met it…"

"You've met it?" Fee gasped, surprised, "When?"

"Radio Tower, a couple of days before you… woke up" I answered, choosing my words carefully around new company, "Whitney had been captured by Team Rocket and held prisoner, so Copper and I helped her escape, along with a whole bunch of other trainers"

"Ahh, I see…" Fee surmised, holding a pensive hand to her chin, "Well, Whitney's got a very clever strategy. Her Miltank has this attack called Rollout, which mows down basically anything in its path, right?"

"Yup" I answered simply, remembering that move in action at the Radio Tower.

"Well, Whitney's Miltank also uses Attract, which will cause any male pokémon to instantly become infatuated with it, and that pretty much prevents them from attacking. On top of that, it's also got Milk Drink to restore any damage you might've been lucky enough to deal, and Rollout's power doubles every consecutive turn it's used. Put simple, it makes for a _really_ long and drawn out battle"

"…oh" I replied, not understanding a whole lot of what Fee just said, "No wonder Morty doesn't get many challengers, heh"

"Ahh, so that's why you were suggesting challenging Whitney?" Fee cottoned on, "Cause you've got Morty's badge, and know from that experience that you can challenge them in any order you want?"

"…pretty much" I admitted, once again amazed that she figured that out with barely a clue, "Like, I was thinking it might work for you, Darrell, cause Litwick's a Ghost type, right? And they do pretty well against Normal types, huh?"

"Litwick's also a Fire type, though" Fee advised, "And Miltank's Rollout is a Rock move, meaning she'll roll the poor Litwick into a waxy pancake in no time at all. No offence, Darrell" she added hastily, to avoid upsetting the poor kid.

"N-no, I agree with you" Darrell replied, "I don't think Ruby trusts me enough yet, so taking on Whitney would be suicide"

"Ruby?" Fee asked, "Aww, that's your Litwick's nickname?"

"Heh, yeah" Darrell answered, "No one gets it, but hey"

Another sharp crosswind blew, forcing all of us to withdraw further still into ourselves, which prompted me to say "We should really get moving, huh? It's freezing out here"

"Y-yeah, good idea" Fee agreed, and the three of us worked towards packing up the campsite. Wrestling the shabby tarp against the wind was a challenge on its own, but with all of us working in some semblance of co-ordination, it only took about a half an hour to force the thing back into my bag. I made perfectly sure that the egg was out of the way first, by having Luna curl around it and keep it warm while we stuffed the tent into the bag. The occasional shock from the static electricity seemed to irk her slightly, but otherwise, she happily snuggled up to the egg, keeping the both of them nice and warm in this bitter cold.

"F-finally!" I gasped, forcing the zip shut on my overfilled bag with my numb fingers, "I was starting to think we'd never get the damned thing back in there!"

With a strained grunt, I slung my bag over my tired shoulders, and carefully knelt down to retrieve the egg from Luna, "Good girl, Luna"

Seeing as there was no way I was gonna get the egg in my bag now, I simply decided on carrying the egg, despite the cold. I mean, what other choice did I have?

With the egg in my arms, Fee and Luna at my sides, and Darrell following behind us ambivalently, we started to head east towards the junction between routes 39 and 40, where we would be making our separate ways. Darrell would be heading further east towards Violet City, and Fee and I would go north towards Ecruteak City and beyond.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask Argy to look after the egg?" Fee suggested, "I mean, he's got fire to warm it up with…"

"But he hates the cold, huh?" I replied, remembering all too well about Argus' sufferings over the past few months. Sickness after sickness, just because of this cold…

"Ohh, that is a good point" Fee agreed. "Speaking of which… your Litwick should do pretty well against Falkner, huh? His birds'll burn if they so much as touch her, heh"

"That's what I'm hoping for" Darrell agreed, "But I'm gonna see if I can catch something in the area that'll help, like a Geodude or maybe a nice Mareep?"

"That's a good idea" I said, "Never hurts to have a couple of extra pokémon with you, especially if they've got a type advantage"

"Doesn't always work though, especially against gym leaders" Fee added wisely, "They know how to counter their weaknesses"

"Oh, I know that one" I laughed, remembering my battle against Morty, where I barely won despite having a pretty huge advantage. As we passed through the National Park, I couldn't help but feel as though the morning was full of nostalgia. I mean, the memories were everywhere. Discussing past events such as the Radio Tower incident, my meeting Morty and Whitney, and now here in the National Park, where Luna evolved…

"Remember that night, girl?" I asked Luna, stopping for a moment to talk to her. She glanced up at me, her pretty blue rings glowing in the semi darkness of an early winter morning, "Breee!"

I guessed that was a yes. It was rare for Luna to show any strong emotion, so an outright cry like that must've been an indication of something pretty special.

"Ohh, the night she evolved?" Fee asked, recalling that I'd told her this story, among many.

"That's the one" I shivered, scratching Luna between the ears before heading off again.

"W-what happened?" Darrell queried, suddenly interested, "I've never seen an evolution before. Was it awesome?"

"Well, I'd had a… bad night" I explained carefully, "And I went for a walk through this park with Luna, to try and gather myself, y'know? Anyway, this Kadabra came along and attacked Luna with some kinda psychic attack. I rushed in to try and defend her, because that's what anyone would do, and I ended up getting attacked instead. Luna growled at it for a little while, and I tried to tell her to just run away, because I knew there was no way she could fight it off, being only an Eevee. But, being her stubborn self, she refused to move, and the moon came out from behind the clouds. Next thing I knew, she'd exploded in like a wall of light, changed into an Umbreon, and pounced at the Kadabra! I-I'd… never seen anything like that before…"

"Oh wow, that does sound pretty awesome!" Darrell cried, strangely excited over what I guessed was a completely new concept to him, "I can't wait to see a pokémon evolve now!"

"I wouldn't get too excited" Fee chuckled, hooking her arm around mine, yet careful to avoid contact with the egg. "Evolution doesn't just _happen_. There's usually gotta be a really strong bond between pokémon and trainer, and the pokémon's gotta be ready. Luna here evolved because her trainer was in danger, and her desire to protect him has to be one of the strongest bonds out there. I mean, just look at them!"

Luna blushed an odd shade of darkened pink at this praise, and even I felt the prickle of self-consciousness arising, causing uncomfortable warmth in my ears of all places.

"Ohh, I get it…" Darrell mused, looking over to the both of us, "So you guys, like, actually care for each other, and that's why you like hugging and stuff?"

"That's… one way to put it" Fee suppressed a laugh, "I mean, Blake's my boyfriend. We're supposed to 'like hugging and stuff' as you call it, eheh…"

"That's fair enough… I guess" Darrell conceded as we walked through the park's east gate, "I-I'm sorry for calling it creepy earlier. At my age, girls have cooties…"

"It's no problem" I responded simply, "Like I said, though. In a few years, you won't find it so creepy"

"Just take life at your own pace, and you'll be – huh?" Fee began, but a distraction in front of her brought her conversation to an abrupt halt, "W-what's going on?"

All of us slowed to a stop, noticing that something weird was indeed happening. The route heading towards Violet City – where we and Darrell had originally planned on going our separate ways – had been blocked off by police?

A few people had gathered around, seemingly intent on bugging the nearby officer for information, but his answers didn't seem to be satisfying them.

"Hey, my son's in Violet City!" A middle aged woman cried, looking as though she was ready to strangle the awkward police officer, "I can't just leave him there all alone!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am…" The officer sighed, adjusting his cap and staring her down, albeit guiltily, "But until we've finished our preliminary investigations, no one can pass through this route. If you have to get to Violet City, you'll have to arrange alternate transport"

"That's easier said than done!" The woman yelled, "What do you expect us to do? Go via Blackthorn?!"

"Well… do you have a pokémon that can fly?" The officer suggested with a shrug, wincing as the angry woman subjected him to another stony glare.

"Hey, what's happened?" Fee took her chance to ask, approaching the police tape cautiously.

"There's been an explosion at the Ruins of Alph" The officer explained, seemingly as vaguely as he possibly could, "I'm afraid no one can pass through here for the time being. Sorry, miss…"

"Oh, that's alright" Fee tried to reassure him, "Looks like you're not going to Violet after all, huh Darrell?"

"Guess not…" He mumbled, shuffling his feet awkwardly, "So… you guys are heading to Ecruteak, right?"

"That's right" Fee said, heading back towards the both of us, "Wanna come with? It's a lot closer than Goldenrod, and I'm sure you don't wanna go back there, huh?"

"Very sure" Darrell agreed, "And I've heard there's a Ghost type gym leader in Ecruteak. Maybe he could help me train Ruby?"

I shifted my arms slightly so that the egg's static could discharge a little, for ease of comfort, and we continued walking north towards Ecruteak, only now with Darrell in tow.

"That's a pretty good idea" I remarked, "He'll at least be able to offer advice. He may try to con you into handing her over to him though. Morty's sneaky like that"

"Ohh, no way is he getting Ruby!" Darrell yelled, attracting the attention of the nearby pedestrians, some of whom were still stubbornly refusing to move away from the police tape.

"I-I know she's gonna be a challenge…" he continued, a little more quietly this time however, "But hell, where's the fun in giving up? I say come at me!"

"That's a great attitude to have!" Fee cried, suddenly elated at Darrell's spirited response, "As long as you don't give up, nothing can stand in your way!"

"If at first you don't succeed…" I sighed, starting off the obligatory idiom…

Minutes melted into hours, and time slowly dwindled by as we gradually made our way north, conversation had slowly died out, due to there only being so many inspirational phrases Fee could throw at Darrell.

"S-so… what do you think about that explosion?" I stuttered, attempting to pick up a new subject line and avoid awkwardness.

"Hmm?" Fee asked, evidently curious as to why I changed the subject so readily, "Yeah, that is pretty strange. Why would someone bomb the Ruins of Alph of all places? There's nothing there…"

"Aren't there rumours of rare pokémon or something?" Darrell asked, appearing interested in this new line of conversation, "Like, really powerful pokémon?"

"Well… there is a herd of Smeargle that live within the caves, if that's what you mean?" Fee suggested with a light shrug, "Otherwise, they're literally just rumours. Doesn't stop Ruin Maniacs from flocking there in hopes of uncovering stuff, however…"

"Maybe whoever attacked the place was one of those Ruin Maniacs?" I shrugged, stumbling over the same rocky patch that I remember Copper tripping over during our last trip north.

"That makes some sense" Fee agreed, "Cause some of those guys seriously _are_ maniacs, heh. Not quite sure why one would just wanna blow the place up, though…"

"Well, it's a part of treasure hunting, isn't it?" Darrell suggested, pulling his leg out of a thick knotty patch of long grass, "Like, excavators blow up things with carefully placed bombs and stuff, and they can use the tremors that the explosion caused to determine whether there's any stuff in the ground beneath it?"

"W-wow, that's amazing!" Fee gasped, stunned. "Where'd you learn that?!"

"O-oh, my dad's an archaeologist" he answered simply, "He does a lot of work out in that big Desert Resort in Unova. He's how I got Ruby!"

"Wha? In the desert?" I blurted out, feeling stupid immediately afterwards for asking what the others must've seen as a question nothing short of retarded.

"Ohh, no no no!" Darrell chuckled, noticing my confusion. "He caught Ruby for me in this place called… Celestial Tower, or something, and he got some time off a few weeks back so he could visit home for my birthday…"

"Aww, that's really nice of him" Fee cooed, "You get to start off with a unique pokémon as well, rather than one of the usual starter pokémon, or something generic like a Pidgey or Rattata"

"Yeah, it makes it all that more special, huh?" Darrell nodded, retrieving what must've been his Litwick's poke ball from his pocket and holding it carefully, "I can't wait 'til I can actually let her out of her poke ball, so she can follow me around and stuff…"

"It won't take too long, I'm sure" I tried to reassure the guy, seeing how he clearly longed for that moment, "I mean, Luna was following me around after what, a day?"

"Ohh, but there's a huge difference between an Eevee and a Litwick, though" Fee added wisely, "Ghosts are sneaky, and they have difficulty trusting us humans. But we're almost in Ecruteak now, so you should be able to ask Morty there, and have him help you out a little"

"Y-yeah, that'd be great" Darrell smiled, "I mean, I know I'll probably never be able to hug her or anything, but being able to keep her outside of her poke ball would be great. I'd be able to talk to her and stuff, and that'd make it feel so much more… real, y'know?"

"I'll say" I agreed, stopping for a moment to kneel down and give Luna a hug, "Like, if you just keep them in their poke balls at all hours, you don't really get to know them, but if you can let them out for reasons other than battling, they stop being your pokémon and start being your friends. Isn't that right, Luna?"

"Breee…" Luna purred, nuzzling up close to me.

"See? That's the sorta thing I want with my pokémon" Darrell chuckled as I stood back up. "So, what other pokémon do you guys have? Not just your Umbreon, right?"

"Ohh, no no" both of us answered almost at once, but I felt my voice being drowned out by Fee's; "Including the egg there, we've got… six in total?"

"Yeah, I've got Luna here, and a Krokorok named Ned" I explained, hearing a slight snigger escape Darrell's lips at the mention of 'Ned'.

"And I've got a Houndoom, a Chikorita and a Surskit" Fee continued after me.

"Oh cool, another Fire type?" Darrell asked, the cogs in his mind evidently turning, "And you can hug your Houndoom without getting burned and stuff?"

"Oh, of course!" Fee chuckled, "Fire type pokémon only burn those they don't trust. Once you and Ruby become friends, you should be able to hug her fine. I bet she'll be all squishy too!"

"Eheh… squishy, huh?" Darrell laughed, "So I could even like, touch the flame on her head and I'll be fine?"

"Potentially?" Fee suggested, "I can't guarantee anything, because all pokémon are obviously different, but if she trusts you enough, I don't see why not?"

"Oh, that's awesome!" Darrell cried, seeming somewhat invigorated at the thought of playing with fire, "Oh hey, there's the pokémon centre!"

"We made pretty good time, too" Fee announced, glancing up towards the sky, "It's gotta be what… eleven o'clock?"

"Uhh… sure?" I shrugged, finding it difficult to tell without a sun to judge with, "Long as we can get some food, I don't care what time it is"

"He's speaking my language" Darrell added, indicating that he was also starving.

"Okeydokey then!" Fee giggled, navigating her way around a low branch belonging to the tree next to the poke centre, "Let's get some food then, huh?"

"Alright!" Both Darrell and I seemed to yell in unison, with even Luna making a noise that sounded like a squeak of approval.

The slidey doors to Ecruteak's poke centre parted, and once again we found ourselves surrounded by the inviting warmth of the building, where a tired looking nurse sat behind the counter with her head in her arms. Aside from us, the place was almost _empty, _with only a pair of teenage girls making the most of the ridiculously comfy looking couch in the corner. The girls were holding a glossy magazine between them as they snuggled up together, appearing to be watching one of those overly dramatic TV soaps and giggling in an unexpectedly girly fashion over some disturbingly feminine looking man on the screens. No surprises there…

"Wow, this place is quiet…" Fee analysed, looking around at the sheer barrenness of the place, "I wonder why?"

The nurse behind the desk seemed to hear her remark, and mumbled a response, "It's because of this new law. Because of all the restrictions, we've had to turn away most of the trainers that visit. And thus, no one comes here anymore…" she sighed, burying her face further still into her arms and groaning deeply, "Days are so boring now…"

"What about those girls over there, though?" Fee asked, pointing to the pair of giggly teens, "They're here?"

"Oh, they're locals" the nurse responded, "We're required to keep all of our amenities running at all times, despite these so called 'restrictions', so they're just making the most of the free TV. I can't say I blame them"

"I wouldn't either" Darrell agreed, glancing over towards the two young girls perhaps a little more eagerly than he should've been, "I mean, free stuff"

"Kinda ironic though" I said, "Trying to save money, yet forcing you to keep using all the expensive electrical stuff running twenty four-seven"

"You can say that again…" the nurse sighed, looking up from her arms, "So, can I help you kids? You look like you could all do with a rest and some food…"

"Food sounds really great right now…" Fee smiled weakly, rubbing her stomach. The added dramatic effect probably wasn't intended, as I knew better than anyone that Fee didn't like to draw too much attention to herself, but hey, if it worked…

"Well, thanks to those _restrictions…_" the nurse sighed, "We've plenty of food available! It's not the best, but I'm sure that won't be a problem, right?"

"Ohh, not at all!" Fee chimed, "Any food's good right now, right guys?"

"YEAH!" Darrell cried, showing a lot more enthusiasm than I'd ever seen before, and dashing through the flappy doors towards the cafeteria area.

"Whoa" I muttered, surprised at his sudden display of energy, "…that was unexpected"

"Your stomach can have a pretty loud voice sometimes!" The nurse giggled, "C'mon kids, let's get you fed"

She disappeared behind another door to the cafeteria, obliging Fee, Luna and I to follow. Just as I'd expected, Ecruteak's cafeteria had barely changed, still displaying its intricate Japanese design, like the rest of town, with cleverly angled windows that made the most of the available daylight.

"Look! Food!" An overexcited Darrell cried, pointing to the heaps of mash potatoes and sausages on display, kept warm with the use of convenient heating trays.

"Tuck in, guys!" The friendly nurse smiled, gesturing to the food, "You're the only people we've had in so far today, so take as much as you'd like!"

"R-really?" I asked, stunned, "But what about other people?"

"What other people?" she laughed, indicating that the entire room was scarily empty, "Almost no one visits the poke centres any more, and it'd be a real shame if this food were to go to waste…"

"Sounds good to me!" Darrell jumped in, grabbing a plate and piling food onto it with gusto!

"We should have plenty of pokémon food too" The nurse said simply, turning to head back into the main poke centre, "So please, help yourselves kids"

With a small sigh, she walked back through the door and left us to it. More than just a little surprised at this entire situation, I looked towards Fee and said, "Free food?"

"No complaints here!" Fee chuckled, meeting up with Darrell and piling plates with food, "You get the pokémon food, OK?"

"Sure thing" I replied, shifting the egg into one arm and heading over to a mountain of pokéfood to grab some bowls, "Uhh… how many do we need now?"

"Well, there's Luna, Ned, Argy, Ferny, Hermes and Ruby, so six in total!" Fee instructed, already carrying two heaped bowls towards one of the many empty tables.

"Gotcha" I replied. I dug six bowls out from the lonely pile near the plates – trying to assemble some form of colour co-ordination between them – and dumped them all down on the counter next to the sheer mountain of pokémon pellets. There were no poffins or berries in sight, indicating that they were expensive to get a hold of in winter, so it looked like pellets would have to suffice.

"Hold the egg a sec?" I asked Fee, dashing over to her and placing it in her lap, "Two hands would make things a lot easier here, heh"

"Okeydokey!" Fee smiled, strangely refusing to eat. Was it because I wasn't at the table yet?

Nevertheless, I rushed back to the bowls, and hastily piled them high with pellets. Clamping six bowls between two hands was… a _challenge_, shall we say, but thankfully only Luna was outside of her poke ball at the time, so things didn't get out of hand, like it probably would've done if Ned were outside of his…

"Sorry I took so looong!" I cried, almost losing my footing on the slick lino floor. I carefully negotiated myself into a kneeling position so that I could place the bowls on the ground, and organise them then. Thankfully, Luna wasn't completely starved this time, so she sat next to Fee's chair and calmly waited for me to shuffle a bowl towards her. Once six bowls had been placed a reasonable distance from each other, it was time to let everyone out, and see just how much madness would come from two new pokémon entering the scene.

"OK, come on out, guys!" Fee exclaimed, retrieving her three capsules from her bag and releasing their hosts. Argus appeared first, instantly snapping to attention at Fee's side, like the good guard dog he always has been. Fernadette popped out next, stretching her body out like a cat would and toddling up next to Argus. He gave her a sideways glance, as if he still didn't quite trust her, but knew better than to displease his master and attack her. Finally, the tiny Hermes appeared from the depths of his poke ball, and looked around timidly at the strange new sights in the room. I could imagine that this all must've been pretty intimidating for him, considering that he'd been a captive pokémon for all of a _day_, and was already being subjected to new, strange pokémon, one of whom had the misfortune to blast him with painful fire yesterday…

"S-s-s-suuurrr?" Hermes squeaked, carefully approaching Argus and Fernadette. Argus just looked at him sourly, seeming to dislike the thought of his master dividing her attention with _another_ newcomer, and Fernadette looked unsure how to react, when Hermes' greeting her yesterday didn't go too well.

"It's OK Hermes, don't worry!" a reassuring Fee cooed, carefully picking up the fragile looking bug and placing him on her leg next to the egg, "Hey, wanna take the egg back, Blake? I'm gonna try and feed Hermes myself, cause he looks nervous"

"Just a sec" I answered, releasing Ned from his poke ball, "Behave, OK Ned?"

Ned the Krokorok appeared in a flash of crimson, and predictably hissed at me, obviously resenting the idea of behaving. Instead, he just stomped over towards a bowl that hadn't yet been claimed, picked it up with his hands and buried his face in it, making a clear point to not care about what I was saying.

"Better than nothing, I guess…" I sighed, retrieving the egg from Fee's lap once again and sitting in the seat next to her, opposite Luna, Fernadette and Argus, all of whom were happily tucking into their respectively coloured bowls. "You gonna let out your Litwick?" I suggested to Darrell, who seemed to have frozen.

"O-oh, right!" He cried, shocked out of his trance. He must've been enthralled at the sight of so many new pokémon or something. With a clumsy fumbling, he pressed the button on his poke ball, and another burst of crimson light flashed through the room, revealing his anticipated Litwick. The little greyish candle pokémon had an adorable – yet somehow still eerie – blue flame atop her head, with an appropriate little drip of wax that could perhaps serve as hair, two tiny yellow eyes and an expression that looked constantly worried.

"Liii…t?" She asked cautiously, evidently spooked by all these strange new people and pokémon suddenly entering her life.

"I-it's OK, Ruby!" Darrell stammered, kneeling down and attempting to pick her up. As expected, that didn't go well, and Darrell was forced to wince as his hands were inevitably burned just from merely touching her, "Ah! Oww…"

"Careful!" Fee tried to instruct from across the table, "She'll need to be sure she can trust you before you just pick her up like that!"

"S-sorry!" Darrell gasped, obviously still in pain from picking up the hot, half-molten candle, "B-but she was s-scared, and…"

"It's alright, don't worry!" Fee tried to calm him down, "Just… see if you can feed her while you're there, huh?"

Darrell nodded, seemingly too pained to respond, and made the amazingly brave decision of placing his Litwick on his lap. I was unable to see Ruby the Litwick's response, due to her being hidden behind the opposite side of the table, but Darrell instantly prized his singed hands from her, and shakily tried to grab her bowl off the floor, "C-c'mon Ruby. You can eat with me today, huh?"

"Twick?" Ruby's voice echoed chillingly throughout the room, but that was likely due to her being a Ghost-type, after all.

"Just take it slowly, and you should be fine…" Fee advised, "Remember not to _force_ her, OK?"

"O-OK" Darrell nodded, grabbing a few pellets with his burned hands and offering them to Ruby, "H-here you go, girl. Eat up?"

"You should try feeding Ned by hand, too Blake?" Fee suggested, pointing towards him "I think he feels neglected, cause you're always with Luna and not him?"

"Are you sure that's wise?" I chuckled nervously, noticing that Ned had already finished his bowl of pellets. He was looking at the other pokémon, evidently wondering which one would be the easiest to con out of their food. Argus warned him away with a simple growl, and he knew better than to bug Luna, while Fernadette was safely nestled in between them, and Ruby and Hermes were both sat on their trainers' laps, so more food seemed like a long shot for him. Faced with that reality, Ned just threw himself into a sitting position and sulked on the lino floor.

"I guess not, if you don't wanna lose fingers…" Fee tried to laugh, whilst also trying to feed herself and convince a wary Hermes to accept pellets from her. I could imagine he was used to getting food for himself, and these pellets – which were enormous for a pokémon as small as he – likely weren't the food he would've eaten in the wild.

"C'mon Hermes, give it a try, OK?" Fee encouraged her little Surskit, breaking a pellet into smaller pieces with her fingers to see if that would make a difference, "You having any luck, Darrell?"

"She just… keeps burning her pellets to ashes" Darrell sighed, flexing his burned fingers, as they were obviously still hurting, "I guess she needs to learn how to control her flame body, huh?"

"Well, you're getting her to accept the food, at least?" I suggested, "That's a good start, right?"

Fee nodded approvingly, her mouth bulging with food, and Darrell's expression lightened instantly, despite the pain that was showing on his face. "Ohh, that's good news!" he cried, withdrawing his hand sharply as a response to being burned once again, "Ow! Oh, that reminds me. Why's your Krokorok named _Ned_ of all things?"

"…ah" I stuttered, feeling more and more regretful for naming him that pretty much every day now, even though I saw it as a relatively clever name. "Well, you probably wouldn't have heard of him. I'm from somewhere pretty far away, and where I'm from, there was this pretty famous outlaw called Ned Kelly. The country he lived in was full of deserts and crocodiles, so I thought it fit, Ned's a sand crocodile, y'know?"

"Ohh, that makes sense" Darrell nodded, spearing a sausage on his fork and attempting to feed Ruby the Litwick at the same time, "Like, I've no idea about the place you're talking about, I've gotta admit, but I understand the logic?"

"Ahah, that's good enough for me…" I mumbled, scratching the back of my head, "Speaking of which…"

Now that I'd cleared my plate – a lot faster than Fee or Darrell due to only having to feed myself, and not a pokémon as well – I decided to act on an idea that had just hatched in my mind; "Hey Ned, you want some more food?"

At the sound of 'food', Ned sprung up from his sulking position instantly and charged towards me, holding his hands out expectantly.

"Uhh… are you sure on this?" Fee gabbled through a mouthful of mash potato.

"Perfectly" I responded simply, "Got a plan"

Turning to Ned, I addressed him slowly, "Now Ned, I'll make you a deal for more food, OK?"

Ned sighed with disappointment, clearly displeased that he didn't already have the food I 'promised', and that he instead had to do something for it. But he didn't just stare at me disdainfully, like he usually did. Instead, he just stood there and blinked at me, almost seeming interested in this 'bargain' I was about to strike with him.

"I'll give you a one more bowl. A _whole bowl_ of food, OK?" I suggested, watching the Krokorok's eyes light up at the notion of an entire bowl, "But there's one catch. I've gotta feed you some of it. Deal?"

For a moment, Ned just stared at me, almost disbelievingly. He must've obviously thought I was being stupid or something, wanting to feed a Krokorok with razor sharp teeth by hand. I knew how sharp those teeth were first hand, so it was clear that we were both aware of the potential danger here. However, Ned's stomach obviously had more influence than his brain, because next thing I knew, this stubborn, unsociable pokémon was nodding in agreement!

"_There's_ a good boy!" I cried, moving to pat him on the head and watching him instinctively swerve away. "Heyy Ned, c'mon now" I said, not budging. Ned was clearly only interested in the food I was offering him, but he wasn't getting it for free. It bribery was what I had to do to regain his trust, so be it, but that was just plain rude. A pat on the head wasn't asking much…

Ned glanced at my still elevated hand, and I could practically see the cogs ticking away in his head. With a reserved sigh, he pulled himself back into a normal standing position, and slouched with defeat, "Karrrgh…"

"There's a good boy" I reiterated, patting him on the head and watching him wince with disapproval. It was a start, I guess…

Both Fee and Darrell stared at me, wide-eyed with surprise, as I gathered the egg in one arm and scooped up Ned's empty bowl. He'd been 'generous' enough to coat it with saliva, so picking it up wasn't exactly pleasant, but nevertheless, I stayed true to my word and shovelled another helping of pellets into it, before bringing it back to the table.

"Remember our deal, Ned?" I reminded him, before he could snatch the thing out of my hand. Ned let out a tortured sigh at the thought of having to 'suffer' without extra food for longer, and just stood there, rooted to the spot. He folded his arms, and opened his mouth wide, practically letting to top of his head swing back like a door opening on a hinge. It wasn't the best effort, I had to admit, but it was better than _no _effort…

"OK, good boy, Ned…" I mumbled warily, placing the bowl on my lap and retrieving a handful of pellets from it. Although Ned was just standing there with his mouth open, I knew that there would be _no_ hesitation once I let go of these pellets, so I had to be quick. My hand flinching from my trying to retrieve it quickly, almost as if it were practising for a test run, I carefully released my grip, and the pellets fell from my hand, into Ned's gaping mouth. However, it took all of a split second for Ned's jaws to swing shut like a bear trap, and I just scarcely kept my hand!

I even _felt_ one of his sharp teeth grazing my index finger as I withdrew it, just for a measure of how close that was!

"…wow. Nicely done!" Fee congratulated me, lowering her cutlery onto her now clear plate.

"I'd say medium rare" I chuckled, feeling somewhat proud of that witty spin, "I only just got my hand back in time. Look"

A clear, red scratch across the front of my index finger was a fairly clear perspective, "But hey. Progress, right Ned?"

Ned shrugged ambivalently, and took it upon himself to retrieve the bowl from my lap, wasting little time in emptying that one as well.

"Yup. Progress is good" Fee chimed, carefully picking up Hermes and standing up from the table, "So, you ready to go, Darrell?"

Darrell was busy nursing his burned hands, and just barely caught onto the conversation, "Hunh? Oh, yeah, sure"

"We'll see if we can get you some oven mitts or something for holding her with, huh?" I suggested, beckoning Ned and Luna to follow after me now that everyone had finished with their food, "Let's go see Morty first though. He should be able to help you out a little"

Egg in arms, and Fee at my side, our little group headed out of the cafeteria and into the predictably empty poke centre, where the overly kind nurse insisted she bandage Darrell's burned hands. He didn't complain, because they also had a dual purpose of insulating against Ruby's burning body surface… somewhat. Most of our pokémon were withdrawn before entering Morty's gum, however

Unsurprisingly, the place hadn't changed at all. Still cold, dark and uninviting, and his 'invisible' floor was still snaking ahead of us towards the back of the gym.

"Hoold it!" A voice stopped us upon entry. A guy dressed in vertical black and white stripes – presumably a referee – said "You cannot proceed currently, as Morty is not here. Please come back at-"

"You realise I can see him, right?" I interrupted the referee, raising my eyebrows. The referee was unaware, but despite this near complete darkness, I could make out the blonde haired man slumped lazily across an armchair at the back of the gym.

"Oh, is that so?" The referee asked cynically, "What's he doing, then?"

"Browsing stuff on his phone" I responded, noticing that his right arm was resting along the armrest in front of him, with a cell phone in hand, "Knowing Morty, I can probably guess what kinda thing he's browsing, too"

"You… you _know_ Morty?" The referee gasped, now sounding shocked instead of cynical.

"Yup" I replied simply, retrieving my sole gym badge from my pocket to show him. Morty's Fog Badge shone even in this limited darkness, and even the referee had to acknowledge it.

"I'm only here for a visit, don't worry" I reassured him, "Stay with me, guys. This floor's kinda tricky"

With Fee and Darrell carefully following behind me, Fernadette sqeaking worriedly in Fee's arms, Darrell attempting to keep hold of Ruby the Litwick, and Luna taking up the rear, we left the stunned referee behind us to approach an ambivalent Morty in the back of the gym.

"H-how're you doing this?!" Darrell gasped, once again reminding me that I could see in the dark, and they could not.

"Ohh, I can see in the dark" I responded as casually as I could, "Comes in pretty useful some-"

"Very impressive, once again!"

Fee jumped, and Darrell yelped with surprise as a light was switched on, bathing the back of the gym in an eerie bluish glow. In his armchair, Morty was revealed, with his cell phone in hand and a glazed expression on his face. Instead of his usual gym attire, he donned simple pants, and a shirt emblazoned with what looked like some gory heavy metal band.

"It's been a while!" Morty replied casually, not looking up from his phone, "You seem to have a thing for bringing young ladies into my gym, and having me scare the crap outta them, huh?"

"Oh, you didn't scare her" I replied, gesturing to Fee. Fernadette looked positively petrified, but Fee only looked mildly spooked. Darrell on the other hand, was white as a sheet.

"It was m-me you scared, sir" he owned up, stepping out from behind us and making his presence known, "I was wondering… if you c-could help me?"

"Help, huh?" Morty grunted, still keeping his attention on his phone, "You're not gonna ask me to help you track down some mythical pokémon too, are ya?"

"Huh?" Darrell mumbled, confused, "Nooo, not at all! I was asking if you could help me with my Litwick here!"

The mention of the word 'Litwick' seemed to grab Morty's attention at last, and he finally looked up from his phone to see the little candle in his hands.

"Oh, I see!" Morty exclaimed, lowering his phone and examining Ruby, "So Blake here told you that I'm the ghost guy or something?"

"P-pretty much, yeah" Darrell shivered. Unsurprisingly, he seemed wary of Morty's intentions. Hell, I was slightly intimidated by the guy when I first met him, so I could understand Darrell's hesitations.

"I-I've only just got her, you see…" Darrell continued to explain, "And she's pretty mischievous, so I figured I'd ask you for… help?"

"Hmm…" Morty pondered, raising his spare hand to his chin, "Well, I'm sure you can tell that I'm not exactly busy right now, seeing as I haven't had a gym challenge in a week, and Blake here 'helped' me rid myself of my previous hobby"

"You're welcome" I felt it appropriate to say, managing a weak chuckle.

"…sure, we'll go with that" Morty retorted, glancing at me with a good-natured mix of humour and exasperation, "Ehh, alright. You look like you need the help, kid. And I've got nothing better do to, so if you'll just hand her over to me, we'll-"

"Noo! No way!" Darrell refused, ignoring Ruby's flaming body and hugging her tight, "You're not having her! No way, dude!"

"He was joking" I whispered to Darrell as an attempt of stopping him from making himself look any stupider in public, but a smirk from Morty gave it away.

"I was just kiddin', kid, don't worry!" Morty chuckled, shaking his head fondly. "Much as I'd love a Litwick to train, I'd never stoop so low as to steal one from-"

But Morty's sentence was interrupted when his phone started buzzing in his hand.

"…hold that thought" Morty continued, lazily lifting the phone to his ear and answering it; "Morty's mammary manipulation manifesto! Free for girls between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five! How can I help?"

A grin flashed across his face, clear evidence that he seemed pleased with his answering phrase, but the smile soon flickered and faded after listening to the speaker on the opposite side of the phone for a short while.

"…the Kimono Girls are being attacked?!" he spluttered, almost dropping the phone, "Got it! I'll be there in a sec!"

Morty snapped his phone shut, and yelled, "C'mon kids! Give us a hand!"

Stowing the phone in his jeans pocket, he dashed straight across the 'gaps' in the floor and out of the gym!

Sneaky…

"What… was that?" A confused Fee asked.

"No idea" I cried, rushing back towards the exit and beckoning everyone to follow, "But it looks like Morty needs some help!"

* * *

Meanwhile…

"Do we have a progress report on 'Operation Alph'?" A seemingly brusque Giovanni asked one of his subjects, not even bothering to turn his chair around and face them.

"The explosion was a success, my lord!" Archie answered, bowing courteously, "Police forces have withdrawn from the three major neighbouring settlements in order to investigate the explosion, giving us the perfect opportunity to begin the first phase of our attack!"

"And you're still standing here?" Giovanni requested carelessly, stroking his Persian atop its head.

"Ngg?!" Archie spluttered, visibly balking, "N-not at all, my lord! Troops have already been dispatched, and we should be receiving feedback as we speak!"

"…good" Giovanni muttered, still sounding displeased, "You may leave now. Report your results to me when phase one has been completed!"

"V-very good, sir" Archie quavered, bowing once again and clumsily backing out of the room. However, in the next room, a stalwart Nyx remains. He looks worse for wear, appearing both sleep and nutrition deprived, not to mention injured, but the man's sheer dedication has shown through his tortured state.

"Nyx? Nyx, are you there?" A voice whispered into his ear via the communication device, "I repeat, Nyx? Are you there?"

"Hunh?" Nyx grunted, attempting to acknowledge the speaker without alerting the people watching him on camera, "Tell me… some good news!"

"Uhh…" Looker hesitated. Wandering aimlessly along the windy streets of Goldenrod City, he looked about as inconspicuous as a bear on a unicycle, but he cared not how he looked right now, for in his mind, that was the least of his worries.

"I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Nyx" Looker mumbled, holding his ear and tacitly thanking the waitress who had just delivered him a cappuccino. "But it appears as though the attack has begun. Goldenrod City is completely devoid of law enforcement. Even the security guards have vacated the premises!"

"…oh" Nyx mumbled, his displeasure evident in his voice, "A-and what about that second request? Please tell me you've got some news there?"

"Well, I have… news" Looker sighed, looking for the best way to break it, "…I have found the location in question. However, upon inspecting it, I discovered that the dwelling was… empty"

"No!" Nyx gasped, his gruff voice ringing with disbelief, "A-are you absolutely sure, Looker?"

"Positive, I'm afraid" Looker said, somewhat guiltily, "But it appears as though it was only recently abandoned. I shall check local security cameras, to see whether or not I can find her"

"…thanks, Looker" A defeated Nyx sighed, the light in his eyes… fading, "Over and out"

As soon as he was certain Looker was no longer listening, Nyx wasted no time in… breaking down.

"Ohh, my dearest Felicity…" he sniffed, unable to wipe the perceived shame from his face, "I don't know where you are, but please…

Don't make me break my promise…"

* * *

**Author's note:**

**Well, this one was a long time coming!**

**A huge thanks to realisticFantasy for your inspiring words. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!**

**Hopefully you guys like this chapter. It's a nice length, picks up a little in tempo, and reveals some of the up and coming plot. **

**I tried for a couple of funnies here and there. Let me know if they worked out?**

**I'd love a review if you can spare a couple of minutes. If you can suggest a better chapter title too, that'd be great. :3**


	9. Til Death Do Us Part

**Chapter Nine – 'Til Death Do Us Part**

"C'mon kids, hurry up!" Morty cried frantically, showing an uncharacteristic display of nerves and worry as he charged the pathways of Ecruteak City, "The Kimono Girls are in trouble!"

"Kimono Girls?" I puffed, chasing after him as valiantly as my tired legs would allow, "B-but aren't they skilled pokémon trainers, too? Why's it such an emergency?"

"'Cause I care about 'em, alright?!" Morty gasped, bodily tackling a figure in red who must've had the misfortune to be in front of the door to the Dance Theatre at the time. I presumed that was the case, anyways…

"You!" Morty demanded, ready to pummel answers out of the figure in red, "Who sent you?!"

"Keh!" the figure laughed snidely, not seeming at all intimidated by Morty's very real threat, "You think I'll just _tell _you about our boss' master plan?"

"Well maybe not _now_…" Morty threatened through gritted teeth, "But I'm sure you'll feel like tellin' us after I'm through with you!"

Lifting himself and the figure up to his full height, Morty held the guy up by the collar and pressed him up against a wall.

"T-there's no way I'm telling you!" the figure in red trembled, fear actually showing in his eyes this time, "Nothin' you can do'll… m-make me!"

"Ohh, who said _I_ was gonna do anythin'?" Morty threatened snidely, holding the guy up with an astonishing display of unprecedented strength, using only one hand on his neck, and grabbed a poke ball from his belt.

"You think _death's_ the worst thing that can happen to you, punk?" Morty spat, practically burying the poke ball in the guy's face, "How 'bout I let this little guy out of his poke ball, and let him play with you for a while, huh?!"

The figure in red whimpered, but still refused to speak, and Morty increased the pressure around his neck. In the time I've known the guy, I'd never seen Morty so much as raise his voice, maintaining his cool, calm composure, regardless of the situation. But this time was so vastly different, it was as if a completely new person had emerged from his depths, and I wasn't so sure I liked this new Morty all that much…

"Get inside, kids. See if you can help the Kimono Girls out" he instructed, not taking his eyes away from the figure in red, "I'll see if I can get some information outta this idiot in the meantime"

"…OK" I answered, **not **wanting to argue with him right now, "C'mon guys"

Fee and Darrell, both just as shocked as I, nodded worriedly, and I forced the doors open into a scene of utter chaos!

Despite the Kimono Girls reportedly being skilled trainers, they were outnumbered easily in this matchup, with assailants from what looked like _multiple_ criminal gangs bearing down on them!

Luna growled alarmingly at the sight of her 'Eeveelution' brethren, all lying unconscious on the floor, having given their all to protect their owners. As for the owners themselves, the poor Kimono Girls had been shepherded into the centre of the room by their assailants!

"What… do you want from us?" the nearest Kimono girl asked of her attackers.

"Don't play dumb!" one of the men answered. He was garbed in blue and somewhat resembling a pirate, complete with a bandanna, and he had a misguided sense of self-importance draped across his face.

But the vagueness of his answer… it was almost like _he_ had no idea why he was here; just a grunt, following orders.

"Hey, you!" I yelled, as loudly as my nerves would let me, "Let 'em go!"

That decision turned out to be a big mistake, as next thing I knew, the entire horde of criminals was staring us down. All three of us.

"…heh" one of the nearest ones grunted mockingly, "What're you gonna do if we don't, _kid_?"

That was my cue to defend myself.

"W-we battle" I shivered, feeling fear rising despite my best attempts to suppress it, "If we win, you guys leave, got it?"

"Pff, you think you can win, kid?" the grunt snorted, as laughter rose throughout the building, "There's three of you, and about _twenty_ of us"

Fee looked towards me nervously, but I stood my ground. "Well, you've got nothing to worry about then, huh?"

"You've got guts, kid" the grunt smiled maliciously. The circle of evildoers loosened around the Kimono Girls, and instead tightened around us three.

"Just one thing though" he added, raising an index finger as if to make a point. "We don't play by rules. Ready to lose?"

"We'll see" I responded brusquely, knowing that I only really needed to buy some time more than anything, "One condition though. Let them go" I added, pointing towards the Kimono Girls and their comatose pokémon.

"You're in no position to be makin' demands, boy" the grunt scoffed, raising an eyebrow, "We're the ones in charge here!"

"But what if their pokémon wake up while you're distracted?" I flailed, thinking on my feet and praying to any god available that this would work, "They'd be able to attack you, and you'd be unaware. That's like disarming someone and then leaving their gun where they can still reach it"

The grunt folded his arms, clearly in thought, "Hmm, you've got a point there…"

I gritted my teeth, but held my stare, hoping that he wouldn't see through this improvised plan. But slowly, and surely, to pleasant surprise, murmurs of agreement began to echo through the group of grunts!

"…alright" Their self-appointed leader muttered, waving the concern away almost as if it were trivial to him, "Kimono Girls, get outta here"

The group of seven Kimono Girls didn't need telling twice, withdrawing their respective 'Eeveelution' without a word and hurrying out the door, one of them – the one with the orange Kimono – mouthing a tacit 'thank you' in our direction. I tried to signal 'get help!' back without being noticed, but of course…

"Hey, what're you sayin'?!" the grunt snarled, folding his arms and flaring his nostrils, "You better not be tryin' to get help or somethin'!"

"Bit rich coming from a pack of criminals who pride themselves in breaking rules" I retorted as viciously as my anxiety would allow, "Shut up and battle"

Fee eyed me with a look of astonishment, but the nearest grunt's face broke into a deviously satisfied smile, "Alright then, kid. Let's see if you actually have guts, or if you're just tryna be all _macho_ for your girlfriend there!"

"Ugh…" I winced, knowing that that simple fact would give him the mental advantage, "Y-you ready for a crash course in battling, Darrell?"

"Not… really" he mumbled, clearly petrified.

"Just... do your best, OK?" I instructed, "Sorry you had to learn like this…"

"It's not your fault, Blake" Fee reassured my ebbing spirits by standing by my side and grabbing a poke ball, "You using Luna?"

I nodded curtly, and Luna picked up on this, springing forwards into a defensive stance, growling alarmingly at her multiple opponents.

"OK then…" Fee muttered, grabbing a poke ball from her purse, "C'mon out Ferny!"

Fernadette and Ruby the Litwick burst out of their poke balls at almost the same time, provoking snorts of laughter from the 'audience'.

"Heh, look at that tiny thing!"

"What's it gonna do, tickle us to death!"

Fernadette growled disdainfully at these insults, but conceded no ground, instead seeming as though her determination was burning ever more fiercely, if anything.

"Are… you sure?" I whispered to her from behind my hand to keep it hidden, while Fee answered with a simple "Yup. I should be fine using her after all this time. If I used Argy, we'd be open to Water types. Ferny here covers our weaknesses"

Wow. Good thinking…

"Don't you listen to those nasty people, Ferny!" she cooed, kneeling down to comfort her little Chikorita, who looked all but ready to break some faces. On my other side, Darrell seemed to be worriedly consoling his Litwick.

"G-give it your best shot, OK girl?" he muttered warily, looking as though he was about to fall to pieces any moment. Poor guy…

"OK, ready" I muttered curtly, bracing myself for the inevitable. Another 'chuckle' escaped many of the group of criminals surrounding us, and next thing we knew, _several_ pokémon had been released from their capsules. They were native to multiple regions as well, but thankfully most of them were basic pokémon, like Numel, Wurmple, Croagunk and Purrloin among many others.

"Right guys, we gotta work together here, got it?" I muttered, shuffling back a bit so that Fee, Darrell and I formed a tight circle, with our three respective pokémon surrounding us. Luna growled defensively, while Fernadette's leaf was twitching from the seething anger she could barely contain, and Ruby the Litwick looked… scared. No other word for it; scared.

"OK Luna, Quick Attack!" I cried, hoping to catch a few by surprise with speedy action. Luna responded almost instantly, dashing forwards and knocking one pokémon over – I think it was a Stunky.

"Oh, you wanna play, huh?" A different grunt taunted, "Numel, fry that useless weed!"

"Careful Ferny!" Fee cried, her eyes burning with resolve as the dopey camel stomped towards a defiant Fernadette. It charged up a ball of Ember in its mouth and fired it, but a fast thinking Fee shouted "Ferny, Light Screen quick!"

"Reeh!" Fernadette squeaked, closing her eyes and summoning up a yellowish barrier around _all three_ of us. The ball of Ember slowed pretty much to a stop, before being repelled completely by the barrier and launched into another pokémon!

The enemy's Wurmple could do nothing to avoid the flaming ball of heat, and subsequently got toasted by a 'friendly' Ember!

"Argh! You idiot Magma!" the grunt evidently in charge of the Wurmple roared, whacking the Numel's owner in the back of the head, "Why'd you do that?!"

"I didn't! _She_ did!" 'Magma' retorted scathingly, pointing to Fee, "And now you've just told them where we're from, dumbass!"

"No, where _you're_ from!"

Amidst this ruckus, I pounced on opportunity, "Luna, Faint Attack!"

Luna nodded and faded away into the background, hopefully sharing the same intention as I; taking out as many opponents as possible with one attack. Darrell finally succeeded in getting Ruby to attack something, by assaulting an opposing Carvanha with a painful looking Hex. The tiny piranha floated in midair for a few moments courtesy of Ruby's Hex, and Darrell came up with a sneaky brainwave to have Ruby launch the Carvanha, sending it crashing into another pokémon!

"Good thinking, Darrell!" I applauded the boy, taking this opportunity to grab Ned's poke ball as well, "Come on out, Ned!"

"Oh, so you're gonna play dirty huh?!" A grunt seethed, sporting a healthy graze on his cheek where Carvanha's rough skin practically tore through it.

"Pff, and you guys aren't?" I countered, "'Sides, there's no RULE that says we can't?"

"Grr…" the grunt growled, evidently livid at my 'using his tactics against him' thing, "Croagunk! Take out that Chikorita with a Poison Jab!"

"Croooaaa!" The Croagunk blubbered, jumping forwards with its poisonous hands at the ready. But unbeknownst to the grunt, Fernadette was also prepared; even more so than Fee.

"Chiik…" she muttered, awaiting Croagunk's approach, before, at the last possible second, jumping clean over it!

Croagunk came to a sticky halt on the wooden floor, just in time for a Purrloin to crash painfully into it, courtesy of the still invisible Luna!

"Kariiiii!" Fernadette squeaked, spinning her leaf viciously and assaulting the both of them with a flurry of sharp razor leaves in the meantime!

All the while, Fee just stood there and stared, stunned at her Chikorita's grace and agility. However, things turned to custard when a nearby Zubat took its chance and latched onto her from behind with its poison fangs!

"Ferny!" Fee screeched, ready to jump in there herself, but I held her back as best I could and cried, "Ned, do something!"

"Kraaaah!" Ned roared, charging forwards and manually detaching the Zubat from her. Looking as though he had the intentions to throw it at another opposing pokémon, he raised his arm to do so, but stopped when a voice interrupted him;

"Chik Chikaah!"

Astoundingly, Ned lowered his arm, with the captive Zubat still clamped inside of his hand, and instead thrust it into the ground, pinning the Zubat to the floor?!

What the…?

Did Ned just listen to Fernadette?

Fee and I exchanged a stunned glance as Fernadette herself buckled up, before springing forwards and charging into the Zubat with a spirited Headbutt!

Zubat was removed from between Ned's hand and the floor, and sent careering into yet another enemy pokémon – this time a Glameow – knocking the both into a daze!

"Looks like they've got a better hang of this battle than we have…" I mumbled inwardly, watching Ned_ suplex _a Numel into unconsciousness. Luna's Faint Attack finally wore out, and she finished her attack by assaulting another trainer's Poochyena with a painful Bite.

"Argh, that's it!" one grunt yelled, "Croagunk, Sucker Punch! I don't care what, just hit something!"

"Croh!" Croagunk croaked, springing forwards and striking Fernadette on her vulnerable underside with its poisonous grasp!

"Kaaah!" Fernadette squealed, bowled over by the surprise attack, and Croagunk took advantage of this loss in momentum to dive on top of her!

Croagunk's Poison Jab attack was all but ready to disembowel the poor Fernadette, but no one was able to do anything to help her! Ned was busy wrestling with a Sneasel, while Luna was locked in head to head combat – literally – with an overly stubborn Numel, and Ruby appeared overwhelmed by the sheer number of opposing pokémon surrounding her!

"Darrell! Can you do anything?!" Fee yelped, watching Fernadette flail her head furiously in an attempt to escape from this Croagunk's vice-like grip, but to no avail.

"Uh… umm…" Darrell hesitated, freezing under pressure, "Ruby, try-"

However, he spoke too late. A Dustox, one of the only evolved pokémon in the group, had taken its chance to surround her with a cloud of poison powder!

"Ruby, nooo!" Darrell gasped, raising his hand out to try and save his Litwick. But a surprising reaction came from Ruby.

"Ahhh…" she sniffled, the poison being absorbed into her waxy body. She glowed a sickly purple for a moment, but the cloud of spores still surrounding her must've blocked her sinuses or something, because she sneezed, and sent a bursting flame flying in several directions!

The Croagunk that was preying on Fernadette got covered in a healthy dose of searing hot magma, and basically every pokémon in the immediate area was blown back by the sheer force of this complete accident!

"What the?!" one of the grunts yelled, watching his Croagunk run around madly, in obvious pain due to being on fire, "Why I oughta-!"

But his face suddenly dropped, and his eyes widened in fear for no apparent reason. A sharp gasp had him raising his arms at something behind us?

All three of us turned our heads to look at what he was so petrified of, but there was nothing there…

What the?

However, the rest of these grunts seemed to be victims of the same mirage as he, all of whom were backing slowly away from us, their faces depicting looks of sheer horror!

And then, without warning, the entire horde was charging past us! Not caring whether their pokémon were following, a huge gang of criminals were tripping over each other to get out of the building now! What the hell?!

The doors burst open, and the grunts charged through, only to be instantly stopped by police!

"Hands up!" the nearest officer ordered via megaphone. She was a pretty young lady in perhaps her mid-twenties, donning a blue skirt and blouse for a uniform, as well as a mass of lighter blue curls atop her head. "We've got you surrounded!" she announced, and the metallic clacking of what sounded like several weapons snapped into place. The horde of criminals seemed almost… willing to be arrested however, after what had scared the hell out of them in here. Some of them had even been reduced to tears by their 'experience'.

I was just about to ask Fee if she had any idea what on earth had just happened, when a familiar cackle answered all questions for me;

"Kekekekekeh!"

The three of us spun around in surprise once again, and there stood Morty's Gengar, wearing a face _brimming_ with self-satisfaction.

"Ohh, that explains it…" I chuckled, watching Gengar stroll past up all and casually just walk through the wall, back out of the building, "Gengar must've used its Hypnosis or something, and caused them all to see illusions"

I turned back around to address both Fee and Darrell, who were tending to their pokémon. Fee had a nauseous looking Fernadette in her arms, while Darrell was attempting to soothe Ruby's overactive sinuses; she was still sneezing madly and spraying hot ashes everywhere.

"There there, girl…" he winced, placing his hand on her 'head', careful to avoid the flame, "Just calm down now, O-OK?"

"Are they… OK?" I asked hesitantly, knowing that Fernadette at least had suffered quite a bit at the hands of that Croagunk, while Ruby just looked like she was in pain from all the sneezing.

"I don't Ferny's doing too good…" Fee replied, albeit warily, "They all could do with some rest at the poke centre now though, huh?"

"Good idea" I nodded, kneeling down to stroke an expectant Luna. "Great work guys" I added to both her and Ned. Ned seemed more than happy to actually battle for once, even if he did ignore traditional battle rules and instead just cause chaos. For once though, he actually looked happy instead of the sullen, sulky look he'd normally be wearing. Ned disappeared back into his poke ball without a fight, and Luna followed behind me while Fee and Darrell carried their respective pokémon from the building, only to be met with complete surprise!

All the mayhem with the police had calmed down in the short while we were talking inside of the building, but that wasn't the surprise. The surprise came when we were greeted by a once again calm and composed Morty, lovingly embracing the orange Kimono girl. The other six surrounded the pair, not looking surprised in the slightest, giving me the impression that this was no secret between them.

"You… had me worried for a moment there, Zuki" Morty smiled, holding her tight, "Don't scare me like that, OK?"

"_You_ were scared, Morty dear?" the Kimono Girl known as Zuki mumbled softly, "Wow. I never thought I'd hear you say that. Whatever did I do to mean this much to you?"

"Exist" Morty replied simply, showing yet another side of him that I had never before seen; the amorous side.

"And I've you guys to thank" he continued, somehow knowing the three of us were standing there, "I mean, if you three hadn't stopped by the gym, who knows what might've happened here today?"

"It was no problem, Morty" I answered honestly, catching Fee nodding in agreement out of the corner of my eye, "We're just gonna get to the poke centre now… OK?"

"Sure sure, you go do that" Morty agreed, squeezing Zuki tight once again, "H-hey kid…" he added, his face marring with concern as he noticed Darrell holding Ruby, "Doesn't that… hurt?"

"Y-yeah, it does a little" Darrell trembled in response, obviously in pain from holding her, "But how's she gonna trust me if I can't even pick her up?"

"Wise words, kid" Morty laughed, "I can see you becoming a fine trainer one day"

"R-really?!" Darrell spluttered, stunned, "H-how-"

"That Litwick's already starting to trust you, and you've only had her a short while, am I right?" Morty responded knowledgeably, "Lemme walk with ya. Let's talk"

"U-umm… OK!" Darrell chirped nervously. Morty muttered a soft goodbye to Zuki and her Kimono sisters – each of whom bowed graciously – before catching up with the three of us and strolling casually alongside Darrell en route to the poke centre, "So, got a name, kid?"

"Umm, yeah…" Darrell hesitated, "M-my name's D-Darrell"

"Good, strong name" Morty laughed, actually _complimenting_ him, "Say, how'd you like to become my apprentice?"

_I _was taken aback by this sudden offer, but Darrell almost fell over at the notion, "W-what?!"

"You heard me" Morty said with an almost childish grin as he held the door to the poke centre open for the three of us, "You've shown dedication towards your Litwick, and Ghost-types are among the hardest pokémon to train. Trust me kid. After I'm done with you, you'll be a _master_"

"Wow…" Darrell breathed, as though he was having trouble believing it, "You really mean that?"

"I wouldn't lie to you, now…" Morty chuckled, "Would I Blake?"

"Hunh?" I replied dumbly, not quite ready for the sudden request, "Uhh… you seem pretty good at lying to Rayne?"

Fee mumbled into my ear, asking who 'Rayne' was, and I replied with 'Copper', to inform her that Rayne was her name, and Copper a nickname.

"Ehh, that's Rayne" Morty shrugged off a response, "You've gotta admit, she's fun to tease"

Fee carefully handed Fernadette to the poke centre nurse, prompting the rest of us to do the same with our pokémon, and I responded with, "Heh. Yeah, I guess she is. Gullible to the point of funny, and as naïve and trusting as a baby Growlithe… how the hell are you two related?" I added with a slight grin, just for mockery's sake.

"Ohh, nicely done!" Morty chortled, slapping a heavy hand down on my tired shoulder, "Good to see I've had a positive influence on ya!"

"Nope" I shot him down, "I've always been like this, eh Fee?"

"Yup!" She responded simply, carefully sliding onto the plush couch across the room from the counter, "As long as I've known you, you've always had a snide sense of humour. Didn't think you were one for teasing though?"

"Morty's different" I laughed, sitting down beside her, "He seems to like it"

"Uh-_huh_" Morty agreed, crashing into the sofa opposite us and propping his feet on the table, "Nothin' like a good insult war!"

"Speaking of which…" I felt it necessary to say, "How'd you feel about losing to your own niece?"

"Damn, good shot…" Morty winced, as though the incident was clearly still fresh in his mind, "Did she tell you that I took it easy on her?"

"How's she gonna know that?" I chuckled, not at all surprised at this bland attempt at an excuse, "Even she's not gonna believe you if you told her you took it easy on her"

"Well that's what happened!" Morty laughed, his voice ringing with a combination of both awkward and defensive, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it!"

At this moment, Darrell stopped conversation by negotiating himself into a seat without touching anything, due to his singed hands. Blunt as always, Morty asked, "Your hands still hurt, huh?"

"Y-yeah…" he winced, placing them palm-up on the table to avoid injuring them any further, "Not a lot I can do about that though, heh…"

"Nahh, if you just apply some Rawst Berry ointment to the burned area, you should be fine" Morty advised, "Trust me, Gengar used to be a complete bitch back when he was younger, burnin' the hell outta me when he didn't get his way. Man, I've still got scars if you want proof?"

He moved to lift his shirt up, and Darrell acted quickly, "Nooo thanks! No proof needed!"

"You sure you won't change your mind?" Morty joked, the usual cheesy grin plastered across his face as I unzipped my bag and carefully pulled the egg out from it, "Cause this offer won't last l-"

The sight of the egg in my arms stopped Morty dead in his tracks, though. Which was probably a good thing, 'cause he was getting kinda creepy…

"Whoa!" He gasped, eyes widening at the sight of the egg, "W-where'd you find that?!"

"Fee's boss gave it to us" I answered simply, "…why?"

"Can I HAVE IT?!" Morty spluttered, ready to dive forward and grab it, "I've been looking for one of those forever, man!"

"…No!" I refused simply, holding it out of his reach, "My egg!"

"C'mon seriously, what's an egg worth to you?!" Morty cried, desperation verging in his voice, "'Cause whatever it is, I will do it!"

"Never ask again?" I responded quickly, feeling laughter rise up inside of me like a bubble ready to burst.

"Yes! I'll do – ohh" Morty started, only realising what he was saying halfway through his sentence, "…crap. Well played"

"Thanks for telling me what it is, though" I chuckled, now having a fairly good idea of what to expect to hatch from this egg. Holding it in front of him, I made him an offer. "I can let you hold it if you promise you won't run away with it though?"

A strange snorting noise escaped Morty's depths, and he broke out into an unexpected bout of laughter. "Man!" he roared, pounding his fist on the table, "You trust me better than I do!"

"Uhh… sure" I muttered, gently pulling the egg away from him again. I was just being nice…

"So if I'm gonna become your apprentice…" Darrell asked, lifting his head up from the table and steering conversation back on topic, "Would I have to use only Ghost-types?"

"Nah, course not" Morty reassured him with a casual hand wave, "You just show promise with Ghost-types, so I'm gonna teach you everything I know about 'em. Sure, I'll prod you in that direction, but if you _really_ don't wanna become a Ghost only trainer like me, I can't force ya"

"O-oh, that's good" Said a relieved Darrell "That really takes the pressure off…"

Our poke balls were finally returned to us, and Fee was all too anxious to give Fernadette a check-up of her own. After all, that Croagunk could've severely hurt her…

"I can't thank you enough for saving Ferny like that, Darrell" She sighed happily, hugging her Chikorita with relish, "If you weren't there, I might've lost her…"

"Nah you wouldn't…" Darrell replied earnestly, "You would've thought, and used your Houndoom to the same effect, I imagine?"

"He's got a point there" I agreed, with a swift nod, "Kinda surprised you didn't bring Argy out at some point to even the odds?"

"Hmm yeah…" Fee mused, raising a pensive hand to her chin, "Why didn't I?"

"Well, looks like it's time for me to get goin'" Morty muttered, obviously not at all interested in the conversation, "C'mon Darrell, I'll show you the best thing about Ecruteak"

"W-what's that?" Darrell asked, sounding as though his curiosity was piqued.

"The chicks, of course!" Morty laughed snidely, steering him out of the poke centre, "Thanks again, you two! Blake, lemme know if you change your mind about that egg, OK?"

"Sure thing!" I lied bluntly, having no interest in surrendering this egg to him. Darrell managed a wave goodbye before Morty forced him out of the door, leaving just the two of us alone in the room at long last. The on duty nurse was busy fixing up something out the back, and those two girls who were here earlier were also absent.

"Ohh _man_ it's been a long day…" Fee yawned, snuggling into me on the couch, with Fernadette dancing happily on her lap "But at least we can sleep in a nice warm poke centre room this time, huh?"

"But I thought you liked the tent?" I teased, ruffling her hair with my free arm. How someone could _enjoy_ sleeping in that, I'll never know…

"Of course! It means we're finally out here, on a training journey, where the sky's the limit!" Fee giggled, curling her arms around my chest, "But given the choice, wouldn't you rather sleep in a nice, warm, _fluffy_ poke centre bed?"

"Heh. Very true" I agreed, purposely planting a soft kiss on her forehead, "Speaking of which… we should probably book a room or something, huh? Just to make sure we _do _get to sleep in one of those nice, warm, fluffy poke centre beds"

"That's a point" Fee nodded, reaching up slightly to make sure her lips met mine this time, "Some food would be nice, too…"

But just then, an overly attentive nurse burst through the flappy doors towards the back of the building, and asked, "You two need a room?"

…wow. That was convenient.

"That'd be great!" Fee chimed, a little too enthusiastically in my opinion, "H-have you got any spare?"

"Only all of them…" she sighed, "Remember how I said earlier about no one visiting the poke centres anymore, because of the new restrictions?"

Both of us nodded dumbly, while we picked up our respective pokémon and rose from the couch, Luna calmly meandering behind us.

"…yeah" The nurse mumbled, looking almost embarrassed at this news, "You two would be the only ones to even approach this counter today. It's pretty depressing, to be honest…"

"Aww, I can imagine" Fee said, trying to empathise, "And you've got all this stuff going to waste on nothing. It's probably saving you no money, huh?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it actually costs more to leave all this stuff on standby…" The nurse muttered disdainfully, handing her a room key, "especially with the food. It doesn't taste as nice if we just keep it warm, and it costs more to power the warming trays all day than it does just to prepare fresh food…"

"Seriously?" Fee gasped with a strange mixture of surprise and contempt, "What're they running them on? Nuclear fission?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, honey…" The nurse solemnly shrugged, "You guys want some food? Help yourselves. There's plenty available. As always…"

"Ooh, that's a good thing" Fee chimed, seeming excited over the fact that both of our problems had been solved pretty much at once, "C'mon, food!"

"Hey, that's my line!" I laughed, chasing after her into the cafeteria, with Luna following closely behind us. They weren't kidding about the food thing either; mountains of the stuff was heaped onto the trays, and it all looked as though it had been there pretty much all day, too…

Nevertheless though, food was food, and we helped ourselves to oversized meals of some assortment of beans, bacon and mash potatoes, all of which had a strange texture due to being there all day. The bacon was chewy, the baked beans were crunchy, and the mash had pretty much reverted back to its past life as a potato for how tough it had become. At least the pokémon were all fine with their usual pellets…

"I-I really think you should talk to whoever's in charge of these budget cuts" Fee advised the nurse, "Because I'm pretty sure that you're just wasting money like that…"

"I would if I could…" She sighed, splaying herself across the couch and making the most of the TV due to the fact that the building was empty apart from us, "But he and his cronies are currently _vacationing_ somewhere nice and sunny. Typical, huh?"

"So their strategy for solving Johto's money problems is by spending the tax payer's money to go somewhere nice, and then burying their heads in a warm sandy beach once they get there, hoping it all rights itself somehow?" I snorted, appalled at this news, "That's politicians for you, huh?"

"Yup" The nurse muttered disdainfully, "They spend our money, blame us for it, and then run away when we need them…"

"But you two have a good sleep tonight, OK?" She continued, snapping back to her peppy self in mere seconds, "You both look as though you need it, and hell, we've got beds to spare"

"Thanks!" Fee replied, holding Fernadette in one arm and waving gratefully with the other. The pair of us slowly mounted the set of stairs towards our indicated room, which sadly had two single beds, and with both of us feeling tired to the point of just wanting to sleep, we abandoned the idea of showers for the morning and just retired to, well, crashing.

After dumping my heavy bag on the ground and undressing, I practically collapsed into my chosen bed, disappointed to feel the uncomfortable ridges of raised springs torturing my back. It seemed as though those 'budget cuts' were extending to the furniture as well. I must've not noticed back in Goldenrod. Fee was a little more graceful getting into bed, so that she didn't have to suffer the wrath of the springs like I.

As expected, Luna jumped up onto the bed the moment I made myself somewhat comfortable, and assumed her usual position splashed across my chest. I let Ned out of his poke ball, but didn't want to try and convince him to join us where it was warm, so he just did what he usually did and sulked in the far corner of the bed. Fee had done pretty much the same thing with Fernadette and Argus, hugging her exhausted Fernadette with one arm and stroking Argus' head casually with the other. She must've decided to leave Hermes the Surskit in his poke ball until he could get along with them, it would seem.

Thinking just how weird things would be if we were ever able to share a double bed with all these pokemon instead of two singles, I muttered a sleepy "G'night" to Fee and rolled over to my side, making sure the egg was warm as I drifted off to a much needed sleep…

**Author's note: Whew!**

**Happy Easter, everyone! This one took quite some time to write. I hope it doesn't disappoint!**

**Oh, and I also hope I tripped a couple of people up with the misleading title. Were you expecting something gory and horrible? :D**

**Major points of this chapter; Darrell's departure (I may include him for a bit of the next chapter too), more hinting at what's in the egg, and the induction of a new ship!**

**I'm not really one for shipping, but you all seem to love them, so I figured I'd create a new one to save on the clichés. This ship is Morty x Zuki, it's unique (as far as I know) and it's named Tsukiyomishipping. If it's bland as hell... sorry. I suck with shipping. xD**

**Thanks to Shadow of Eckhart for the name! I've no idea what it means! :3**

**Coming up next chapter; travelling towards Olivine City. I dunno whether or not Blake and Fee will make it actually THERE in one chapter, as I could easily use it as an excuse for some battle filler scene… thing, but I'll try to make it actually exciting. Some more info on Nyx and Looker's situation might be revealed, also.**

**OK, I'll shut up now. This note is getting pretty long, huh?**

**Drop us a review if you've got a minute? Thanks. :D**


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